


Liam Dunbar and the Firecracker of Doom!

by Uthizaar



Series: The Cursèd Objects of Beacon Hills [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angry Liam Dunbar, Barebacking, Bottom Liam Dunbar, Breeding, Danger, Dildos, Eventual Relationships, Explicit Sexual Content, Explosions, Fireworks, Flirting, Fourth of July, Friendship, Frontier, Homoeroticism, Kissing, Lots of Cum, M/M, Masturbation, Muscle Worship, Physical Work, Post Series, Resurrection, Rimming, Rivalry, Sex Toys, Sexual Frustration, Sexual Tension, Smug Brett Talbot, Teleportation, Time Travel, Top Brett Talbot, Versatile Brett Talbot, Wild West, cum, cum as lube, something is afoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:55:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Uthizaar/pseuds/Uthizaar
Summary: Fourth of July goes really bad for Liam and Brett when an unexploded firework suddenly detonates and blows them straight back into the past!(This is part two of an ongoing series, the first part provides important context as well as a smutty good time with Stiles and Scott!)
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Brett Talbot
Series: The Cursèd Objects of Beacon Hills [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726228
Comments: 36
Kudos: 21





	1. The Unexpected Revival

Liam chewed on his lower lip as he tilted the half empty cup from side to side, just enough to make the latte touch the brim before he pulled it back, avoiding a spill. Every time the door opened, he looked up, expecting Brett to walk inside, but so far, nothing. The werewolf was late, uncharacteristically so, but Liam was willing to give him some slack considering the circumstances. He might not _say_ as much to Brett however, no reason for him to think that the simmering animosity between them had been abated by his unexpected return from the grave. It sent Liam’s mind spinning every time he thought about it; that Brett-and Lorilee-had come back to life some six months after their untimely demise. _Crazy! Why? How?_

The door opened again, but it still wasn’t Brett, just a barista Liam vaguely recognized from his previous visits to the café. The guy was a bit older than him, early twenties perhaps, with a European accent. Liam looked away and back towards his drink, thoughts spiraling once more as he remembered the day Brett had come back. It had been just two weeks before; the very start of May, but he had hesitated and over-thought about meeting Brett in person, leaving the initial task of sorting everything out to Scott and Stiles. They had seemed to take the resurrection in their strides, as though it was a perfectly ordinary Beacon Hills occurrence, but perhaps that was simply Liam’s interpretation of Scott’s texts and voice mails on the situation.

The memory of Brett’s death, the sound of metal twisting around flesh, the thundering of the rain on the bloodied asphalt…it had all come rushing back to him. And now, those sights and sounds continued to haunt him ever since he had blown off meeting Brett that first day. But no longer; out of desperation to get some meaningful rest, he had invited Brett to hang out. The café was a public place, neutral, safe from whatever was about to walk through the door. However, the chairs and tables were spread out and Liam had arrived early enough to secure a booth in the back, his seat facing the entrance as he nursed his drink along, unwilling to allow not-dead Brett to get the jump on him. 

He heard the clearing of a throat from the barista coming towards the table and Liam glanced up, his eyes falling on the man’s name tag. _Yeral? What kind of name is that?_ “Uh, what?”

“Can I get you another?” His rich, deep voice complimented his swarthy appearance, despite the dramatic thrill at the end of his sentence. “Hmm?”

“Sure, thanks,” Liam nodded and looked around at the half-empty café. “I didn’t know you guys did table service.”

“We’re trying something new. Anything to eat?”

“Uh, no, no, I’m waiting on someone.” Liam shook his head and the barista left. “If he’ll ever arrive.”

It was a little over half an hour later when the door opened, and Brett entered. He stepped inside and looked around before acknowledging Liam’s wave. Brett smirked to himself as he heard the irritated mutter from the werewolf and crossed the tiled floor towards Liam’s booth. “Hey, sorry I’m late.”

“It’s fine.”

“Uh huh.” Brett kept smirking as he took in Liam’s glare and half-finished latte. “I was at the realtors, sorting out the apartment for me and Lorilee.”

“Oh.” Liam nodded, a flush of color arcing up his neck and blooming in his cheeks as Brett sat opposite him. “Well, you could have texted me.”

“I didn’t think of it.” Brett shrugged and reached up to undo the top two buttons of his shirt. “It’s hot in here, huh?”

“I guess the AC isn’t on, I don’t find it too bad.” Liam shrugged and then looked pointedly at him. “Is it…is that, like some sort of side effect from your, uh, return?”

“Jumping right in, huh?” Brett arched a brow, but before he could continue, the barista walked over, wiping his hands on his apron. “Oh, uh, can I get a triple mocha frappe double half shot please?”

“But of course.” The guy turned away and Brett smirked as he heard the order whispered under the barista’s breath several times.

“You planning to be here for a while?” Liam arched a brow questioningly. “Also, how many calories is in that?!”

“Watching what you eat? You know that’s one of the perks of being a werewolf, right?” Brett stretched and flexed his arms demonstratively as Liam gave him a dull glare. “Ok, but I figured we have quite a bit to talk about, huh?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Liam looked down at his cup and let the silence stretch between them until Brett’s drink arrived. “So, uh, I’ll just ask it: how are you alive? And _are_ you alive?”

“Haha,” Brett laughed and nodded. “Ok, so, three fast facts: one, I am not a zombie or other form of undead; I’m fully alive, blood pumping, organs working, everything as it was. Two, I’m legally dead because humans don’t experience this, hell, werewolves don’t much either! So, Stiles and Scott helped me and Lorilee change my name, get new IDs, all that sort of thing.”

“And three?”

“Three…well, I didn’t think that far ahead, heh.” Brett smirked and then glanced around, but the café had only two other patrons, both buried in their laptops, facing away from them. The barista was reading a book, only glancing up every now and again to check if anyone needed anything. Brett looked back at Liam and proceeded to undo the rest of his shirt buttons, pulling the flaps back so his chest was revealed.

“W-what are you doing?!” Liam hissed at him, his cheeks bright red as the uncontrolled scent of embarrassment and interest collided together in the air around him. 

“I guess three is showing you that I’m still hot…to the touch.” Brett grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled himself up and over the table. When Liam didn’t offer more than a paltry resistance, Brett placed Liam’s hand over his pectoral muscle and gently moved his hand up and down. He could feel his nipple hardening under Liam’s fingers, his cock already stiff in his pants, and Brett made no effort to hide his arousal as Liam glanced between his body and his face. “See? I’m still as strong and smooth and _virile_ as before!”

“Yeah, alright!” Liam snatched his hand back as though emerging from a daze and he gave Brett a filthy look. “Why did you make me feel you up?!”

“I didn’t make you do anything.” Brett grinned again and tilted his head back, leaving his shirt undone, noticing the way Liam’s gaze wavered between his face and his body. “But I wanted you to feel for yourself that I’m back, just like I was.”

“Back to being a complete douchebag, yeah.” Liam took a hasty sip even as desire flooded the air between them, moving swiftly to a safer topic of conversation. “Is your sister the same as she was?”

“Uh huh, we missed like six months, so that’s awkward, especially for her.” Brett shrugged. “And since we both had funerals.”

“Yeah, do you know how you came back?”

“Not a clue. No one knows.”

“Well, someone has to,” Liam looked around darkly. “There has to be some ulterior motive at work, or they would have claimed credit. It’s like something the Dread Doctors would do.”

“Huh.” Brett grunted and took another mouthful of his drink. “Wasn’t your friend Theo one of them for a while?”

“Friend is stretching it.” Liam shook his head. “And I don’t think he could have been responsible for this; he’s completely reformed.”

“Oh?”

“Oh, yeah, you were…dead.” He grimaced awkwardly. “Theo and Corey got together at the end of Halloween last year; they pooled their money and bought a petting zoo out near Hill Valley.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Brett stared at him. “Have I come back to the Bizarro world?”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Just because I’m a hunk doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy comic books,” Brett replied as Liam rolled his eyes. “Especially superheroes; tight costumes, massive muscles…mmh.”

“Anyway,” Liam said forcefully as Brett grinned at him. “Mason said it’s more like a rundown animal shelter and they’re repairing it. He and Corey had a very mature, mutual breakup, by the way. Like, no drama at all, I thought it was weird. Uh, but, no, I don’t think Theo ‘do you want to pet my puppy’ Raeken is responsible for bringing you back. Like how would that even work? Some sort of serum? Pft!”

“Ok.” Brett nodded slowly as Liam flushed red again. “Thought about this a lot, huh?”

“I guess,” Liam muttered defensively. “Oh, I have a different three for you: what are you eating?”

“Food, like normal people?”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, I’m not a zombie, Liam: no craving for craniums, no hunger to rip the pretty flesh from your bones!” Brett sighed and then stood up, his hands going to his zipper as Liam’s eyes bulged. “But if you want to see just how hot-blooded and alive I am, then look at-”

“No! No! No!” Liam shouted before he lunged across the table and tugged Brett back down onto his seat just as the two other patrons and Yeral turned to glance their way. “Sorry, sorry.”

“So, you believe me now?”

“God, you’re just as much of a dick as before.” Liam glared at him. 

“Yeah, and you’re just as easy to tip over!” Brett smirked at him again before lowering his voice. “But if we were alone, you would have let me show you, don’t deny it!”

“You are such a tool.”

Liam took a deep breath, inadvertently drawing in the raw, potent scent of Brett’s horniness. He blinked and then shook his head, trying to focus. “So, uh, I gotta ask you, what was it like? The other side? Being dead?”

“Hmm,” Brett looked serious for a moment. “Well, I don’t remember much, not even about the end. Scott said that we were hit by a car, but honestly, my memories are foggy. I remember lacrosse practice that afternoon, that’s the last clear thing, and then…darkness, some flickering lights, maybe a warm feeling. But there were no pearly gates or fiery damnation waiting for me, just a, a cold emptiness…” 

“Right,” Liam shivered at Brett’s description and moved on quickly. “So, you probably heard all about the Anuk-Ite and the hunters from Scott and Stiles?”

“Yeah, they caught me up.” He nodded. “But you guys haven’t found Monroe yet, have you?”

“No, but I’m pretty confident that she’s gone for good.” Liam replied. A sudden silence surrounded them, and he pressed his lips together as Brett drank more of his overly complicated coffee. Liam swiped his eyes over Brett’s handsome features before dropping his eyes to look at the other guy’s developed chest-his shirt still open as though inviting Liam’s gaze. “So, I-”

“We should-”

They both made to speak at once, and both backed off, gesturing for the other to continue. Liam waited a moment and then nodded for Brett to speak. “What?”

“I was just saying that I should probably go.”

“Oh.” Liam hid his disappointment quickly as Brett took a longer draught of his drink to finish it off. “Well, err, thanks for coming, even if you were late.”

“Heh, we should hang out again sometime.” Brett replied with another of his smarmy, ridiculously sexy smirks. He began to stand, making no effort to button up his shirt again, instead he swept the sides back to push his hands into his pockets, his thumbs angling towards his crotch, drawing Liam’s gaze. “Well?”

“Ok, sure.” Liam nodded and forced his eyes to take the long, lazy crawl up Brett’s bare, tanned torso to his face. “There’s a new release at the AMC if you want to see it this Friday? Uh, I can bring Mason along if it’d be weird for just the two of us…”

“Nah, come alone.” Brett shrugged. “I can hang with Mason some other time.”

“Ok, cool, say about seven?” Liam replied calmly and not as if his heart was all but pounding out of his chest like a cartoon character. But from the arched brow Brett was giving him, he wasn’t fooling anyone. He scowled. “You can buy your own ticket and snacks.”

“Fine, but since you’re picking the movie, prepare to be criticized for your sucky choices!”

“Well, if you’re nice to me, I’ll pick a movie we’ll both enjoy!” Liam fired back as Brett smirked at him. “I’ll see you at seven.”

“Sure thing.” Brett flicked his eyes over Liam overtly enough to make the werewolf flush, Brett’s nipples hardening as he pulled his shirt closer together, doing up a single button. “See ya!”

_Fuckkkk!_ Liam moaned internally and waited until Brett had sauntered over to the barista before immediately sticking his hand under the table to massage the head of his leaking cock through his trousers. _He might be a smarmy dick, but damn! Brett is as hot as ever!_

As the night wore on and the final patrons left the café, the door opened one last time. “We’re closing!” Yeral called out, returning from the kitchen area with an armful of paper towels. As soon as he saw the customer standing on the other side of the counter, he dropped the cylinders and followed them onto the ground, kneeling with his head bowed. “You honor me with your presence, master.”

“Rise, we among the humans for now, Yeral, I would not have them notice anything out of the ordinary.” The Fallen One replied, gesturing for his servant to stand. “Did our two friends get reacquainted?”

“Yes, master, much was said, both in words and actions.” Yeral moved out from behind the counter to stand in front of the Fallen One. “Desire and tension, building and churning, by the time of the celebration, they will be ready to…hehe, explode!”

“That sounds promising.” The imposing figure nodded. “Especially that they already feel a mutual attraction despite their differences, yes, all they require now is a guide to bring them to the place where we can harvest what is needed, hmm.”

“You have someone in mind, master?”

“Oh, yes, the perfect minion has already been trained and chosen.” The Fallen One smiled and turned to leave. “Hand in your notice, Yeral, I need you to find me a desert island, one with natives, preferably. Aim for something in the seventeenth or eighteenth century. You will be working with Parthenope, so do be careful not to fall under her song.”

“But of course, master.” Yeral bowed his head low enough that when he looked up, the Fallen One had left, the door swinging shut behind him.


	2. Fourth of July Frenemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t be like Brett and instead treat fireworks with care and caution!

Clouds of pink and gold drifted across a cerulean sky as the sun’s fiery orb sunk lower towards the horizon, the day’s final rays falling on a city of marble. Tall stone walls encircled it, sturdy houses with red roof tiles were ordered in large square neighborhoods connected by well-appointed paved roads leading off a central plaza. A steep mountain rose in the middle of the city, a long winding path had been carved through the steep cliff edges and up to the flattened summit. Unlike the crowded districts below, there were only a handful of buildings here: tall structures crafted of gleaming white marble and dazzling gold that shone brightly in the fading daylight.

Fluted columns and delicate arches adorned the front of the temples which lined a long causeway leading out to a circular promontory, the pavement decorated in bright mosaics and polished stones. A large, freestanding structure was in the middle of the circle, held aloft by some unknown force. It too was a disc, crafted of metal and stone, three rings made distinct by their motion. The outer ring moved slowly counter clockwise as the innermost ring turned the other way, the ring between them immobile and solid. When the rings moved into a precise formation, five slots became visible before fading again as the rings continued to turn. At the very center of the disc was a gemstone of darkest midnight, seeming to absorb any light that came close to it, but at its heart was a core of bright white, and beyond…a shimmering haze that hinted at impossible structures. 

Further from the promontory and the disc, back onto the summit of the mountain itself, at the far end of the pathway, there was a large marble tholos that dominated the city. Two wings swept out across the peak of the mountain, almost as if the structure was poised to take flight. The central building was accessible by a set of gleaming white steps that led up to the tholos proper: an open rotunda that afforded views across the city towards the ocean on one side and the dusty plains of farmland beyond the walls on the other. Golden statues flanked the entrance, depicting men and women, monsters and beasts, gods and titans. 

As the sun continued to dip lower towards the horizon, now reflecting off the ocean far below them and behind the city, the Fallen One walked slowly towards a circular table in the center of the tholos. He placed a bundle of black cloth on the surface and unrolled it carefully, revealing a rounded shard of wood about a foot in length, green veins appearing to race up and down across the surface of the staff. Next to the shard was a shorter stick of polished gold, perhaps seven inches long, its surface smooth and unblemished. The Fallen One straightened up and glanced to his right where shadows had gathered in defiance of the sunlight. “Come forth, minion.”

“I am here, master.” A youth emerged from the darkness and knelt in front of him. He was tall and well built, a muscular form visible beneath his loose tunic, his skin tanned and somewhat weather-beaten, as though he had been working outside for many years in his childhood. “Is it time?”

“Yes, Thestor, the moment has arrived.” The Fallen One gestured for him to come closer. He pointed at the golden stick and then glanced at Thestor. “Do you recognize this?”

“Uh, not exactly,” The youth cleared his throat uneasily. “Although with the bulbous head on the end and the flared base, it could be…”

“Good, yes, it is the collection tool for your next mission.” He turned around and walked towards the entrance of the tholos, his gaze directed down the long roadway towards the rotating discs in the distance. “The second Creator Key is to be formed from the mingling of rage and aggression, passion and hatred, something that can only be fully channelled when two rivals give into each other’s desires.”

“Yes, Axel gave me the details yesterday, master.” Thestor remained at the table, holding the tool aloft and examining it with a critical eye. “I know what to do.”

“And the cursed object itself? You know what to do with that also?”

“I do, and I have studied these vendors in detail: I know their craft, I can mimic their accents, their mannerisms,” Thestor replied confidently. “The werewolves will not suspect anything, master.”

“Good, depart.” The Fallen One kept looking out at the Seal of Realms, a cold hatred burning in his eyes. He didn’t need to turn around to know that Thestor had bowed at him, the faint sucking noise of his teleportation into the future was indicator enough. The Fallen One extended his hand, the distance allowing him to obscure the Seal with his outstretched palm. He slowly formed a fist, visualizing the Seal crumpling and collapsing before him when all of the Creator Keys had been constructed and inserted into the Guardian Door. 

It wouldn’t be long now; Thestor would return triumphant in a few minutes, Axel had succeeded mere moments before he ascended the marble steps, and Parthenope had her mission well in hand. The Seal of Realms continued to turn slowly, as though mocking his previous futile attempts to shatter it, but it would not stand for another hour, at least in this timeline. Soon all of the Creator Keys would be in his grasp, soon the world would tremble and buckle under his rule and the Cabal of Ages would become the new pantheon to be worshiped by human and supernatural alike!

But…not yet. The Fallen One exhaled slowly and turned around, walking back towards the table as another sucking noise came from his left. “Right on time, Vertumnus.”

“It took longer than I would have liked.” Stripped from his winter furs and dressed now in a flowing green robe inlaid with gemmed floral patterns, the other man grimaced, sapphire eyes flashing irritably. “The chimeras were not as I expected.”

“No matter, you have the third Creator Key?” He smiled as a roll of thick parchment was offered to him. “Excellent, let us wait for the others.”

“Hmm.” Liam grumbled under his breath and locked his phone. “They’re not coming.”

“No?” Brett arched a brow at him and then returned to browsing the shelves. “Why not? Where are they?”

“Stiles said he’s bringing Scott to some lake house up in the mountains.” Liam replied sourly. “And Mason left for San Francisco this morning, so it’s just gonna be us-not that he would have approved of your insane idea by the way.”

“What about Corey and Theo? Can’t you ask them to join us for a little Fourth of July firework action?” Brett held aloft several short brightly colored tubes. “How about these?”

“No, those are for kids.” Liam said slowly as he shook his head. “Look more towards the top shelf and see if you can get some big fireworks. But, uh, I asked Theo about his plans yesterday and he went on a rant about how fireworks scare the doggos-”

“Doggos?!” Brett sniggered as Liam flushed red.

“His words.” The werewolf glared at him before continuing. “So anyway, he and Corey are staying where they are, trying to soundproof the kennels.”

“Huh, that might actually work.” 

“Looks like it’s just us.” _Again._ Liam added silently to himself. “Anyway, can you just pick out some damn sparklers so we can get on with the rest of the day.”

“Liam, chill.” Brett looked back towards him, his athletic torso clearly visible under his too-long, too-baggy vest. He extended a tanned forearm and grasped Liam’s shoulder, gazing intensely into his eyes. “And haven’t I told you that this is-was-an important day and night for my pack? Culturally. Spiritually.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“And now…sexually.”

“What?!” Liam yelped and threw off Brett’s hand as the other werewolf chuckled at him. “Hey, I’m cool with helping you remember your pack, but this is not a date!”

“Meh, your loss.” Brett just shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest in an obvious attempt to make his biceps look bigger. Liam just sighed and rolled his eyes in response. “Ok, look, Lori and her friends are going to a barbeque over in Hillcrest. I said I’d drive them and then I’ll swing around for you and we’ll go let off a few fireworks and then I’ll bring you back home.”

“There’s no point,” Liam turned away from Brett and inspected the fireworks locked in mesh cages. “My step-father is on-call today and my Mom is covering the dispatch until eleven. This holiday is gonna suck with them working and all my friends gone.”

“All, huh?”

“We’re not friends, Brett.”

“Haha, what about that guy you told me about, the hunter?”

“Nolan?” Liam scowled and shook his head. “He’s on a hunt already and they are definitely not our friends.”

“They?”

“He has a boyfriend, Gabe, got clawed up pretty badly during the Anuk-Ite’s last stand, he’s only out of hospital a few months.” Liam explained as they continued to wander the aisles of the firework store. “I’m not sure if they’re after Monroe or just, like, old school hunters looking for dangerous supers, but I don’t want to know.”

“Huh, you could have told me about them sooner.” Brett sighed and shook his head. “This place doesn’t have what we need.”

“We passed a small pop-up booth about a mile back.” Liam said, hitching his thumb over his shoulder. “We can try there?”

“Yeah, ok, let’s go.”

The sun had reached its midday zenith by the time they found parking and wandered over to the open-air store. Smaller fireworks were arrayed on tables and shelves in front of a foldout shop that seemed to be part trailer. The proprietor was ensconced in a booth just big enough for him to sit and looked as though it had been built around him. Liam looked over a particularly garish collection of Roman candles as Brett let out a shout of excitement. “What?”

“Look at this one: the Colorama Centennial Nuclear 3000XXXL!”

“That cannot be real or legal.” Liam grunted as he trailed Brett over to a large display stand next to the booth. There was a single, large rocket painted in aggressive red with a sneering cartoon grin on the nose cone. “Hmm, I don’t know, Brett, it doesn’t look right.”

“That right there, young fellas, is a genuine one-of-a-kind, completely legal in forty-nine states fireworking, pop rocketing, rootin’, tootin’, and damn near shootin’ explosion of good times and family fun!” The proprietor called out to them, pausing in his single breath sales pitch to spit into a bucket on the countertop. “I tell you now, the Colorama Centennial Nuclear 3000XXXL is what you boys are gonna want to cap off any celebration of the birthday of this grand and glorious nation!”

“Err, right.” Liam murmured as the man ripped off a furious salute to the miniature US flags hanging limply on the sides of his trailer. _I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who actually sounds like that…_

“So, how much for it?” Brett asked as he picked the firework up gingerly. “Hmm, it’s sturdy, well built.”

“Twenty-three dollars and ninety-eight cents.”

“That’s kinda cheap,” Brett glanced at Liam suspiciously. “What do you think?”

“Of course it’s cheap,” Liam lowered his voice so only Brett could hear him. “I’m pretty sure these are illegal in California, and besides, we’re surrounded by Beacon Forest on almost three sides, Brett, we can’t let off something that’s going to cause a forest fire.”

“We’ll do it in a field, trust me, I have everything set up already, just need the firework.” Brett replied confidently and then nodded at the man in the booth. “Yeah, we’ll take it.”

“I don’t know,” Liam said quietly. “It’s got a real evil look about it, malevolent even…”

The silent obsidian darkness was abruptly shattered by an explosion of brightly colored lights and the whirring of a firecracker in the distance, sparks cartwheeled and whizzed across the sky followed by a series of large bangs. Liam looked up in time to see another rocket firing through the air, trailing a plume of orange and green smoke before it too exploded in six streams of flaring bolts. He glanced back down at where Brett was stamping around in a circle, flattening the dry grass in the middle of the field they were in. It was outside of Beacon Hills, but they could still hear the fireworks from the town and see them forming dazzling flowers of gunpowder in the sky.

“Comfy up there?” Brett straightened up and cast a critical eye in Liam’s direction. 

“Yeah, the hood of your car is pretty warm,” Liam smirked and leaned back, resting against the windshield. “How’s the work coming?”

“It’d go a lot faster if you helped.”

“We could have just gone to a parking lot or used one of the country roads around here; they’re empty, and we’d still have a good view of the firework. Plus, then you wouldn’t have to stomp around like a dog trying to sit in his bed.” Liam suggested, folding his arms loosely behind his head. He heard Brett grunt non-committedly and then saw something flutter up onto the hood beside him. “What…”

“It’s pretty humid tonight, huh?” Brett reappeared in his vision, now shirtless, his black denim jeans sagging low enough on his hips to show off deep v lines and the waistband of his underwear. “Really sweltering and hot, maybe even too hot for jeans…”

“Fine, I’ll help you; the last thing I need is for you to blow your dick off.” Liam muttered after eying him up for a long ten seconds. _Phwaa! So fucking brazen... so hot though._ He slid down from the hood and onto the grass. The firework was propped up against the side of the car and as Liam glanced at it, the grinning illustration on the nose seemed to grow bigger, more alive. He shook his head and moved to stand opposite Brett. “What do you want me to do?”

“I just want to clear away some of the brush so we have clear space to light it.” Brett gestured at the ground between them, his hands on his bare hips, his jeans sliding down even lower. “Kick up some dirt to put the stick into.”

“Got it.” Liam nodded, feeling his shirt sticking to the sides of his torso as he moved around. The humidity was intense, and he could visibly see beads of sweat dripping down Brett’s smooth chest and adorning his clenching abs like drops of oil. Liam wiped his brow with the bottom of his shirt, hearing an appreciative chuckle from the other werewolf. “Let’s just get this done, I’m really starting to regret getting dressed up for tonight.”

“Why did you then?”

“Huh?”

“Why did you get dressed up?”

“Oh, I thought…” Liam trailed off, unwilling to admit that their not-date was definitely a date in his mind. Just as had been their day at the park, the time they went to the beach and stayed there until midnight, or the hike through the Preserve the week before. Each of those occasions had been just him and Brett, and-Liam was getting suspicious about this-each time, Brett found some contrivance to take his shirt off, or when they were at the beach, Brett had donned a pair of European style speedos that left nothing to the imagination. Liam wasn’t complaining _per se_ , especially not at the beach…but Brett hadn’t made any obvious moves towards him and Liam’s normally astute werewolf senses just wouldn’t work against another werewolf.

The entire thing was frustrating, and Liam didn’t want to confront Brett over it, even if he did enjoy the sight of the tanned, toned, buff body clearly on display. In any case, when Liam had decided to play Brett at his own game and arrived at the forest hike in nothing but cargo shorts and climbing boots, Brett had just riffed on him about the possibility of biting flies and then started the hike. Now, as he watched Brett in action, Liam felt an unmistakable sensation in his jeans as his dick hardened, pushing uncomfortably against the fabric. He turned away abruptly and walked back to the rocket.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Liam replied, snaking one hand under his belt and adjusting his hardon so it wasn’t as noticeable or uncomfortable. “But you seem to have enough space cleared, so let’s do this and get out of here.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll get the rocket.”

“Are there, uh, rituals and stuff you need to do?” Liam asked.

“No, it’s more like…internal.” Brett shrugged and picked up the firework by the nose as Liam winced. “Alone with your thoughts kind of thing.”

“Right, right.” He followed Brett back over, watching with a grimace as Brett turned the rocket upside down and started shaking it. “What are you doing?”

“Looking for instructions, Big Ed used to deal with this for the pack, so I don’t-”

“You’ve never done this before, have you?” Liam cut across him and shook his head disapprovingly. “Give it to me.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Brett said and he stuck the long wooden stick into the ground. He leaned over the rocket to uncoil the fuse as Liam gasped. “Huh?”

“Would you _give_ me the fucking rocket! You’re doing it all wrong!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Brett brushed his concerns aside and pulled out a lighter from his pocket. “Let me just-”

“No!” Liam screamed at him and yanked the rocket away from Brett. “You have no idea what you’re doing! I’m taking over!”

“Err, all you had to do was ask.”

“Fuck’s sake, Brett, we can’t all come back from the dead, you know!” Liam snapped and took a deep breath, trying to control his anger. “My step-dad’s brother, Gilbert is a certified pyrotechnician, but he works for Lakefield County Fire Department.”

“Ok?”

“So, he showed us the right way to set up and light fireworks.” Liam had calmed down and he carefully examined the rocket as he placed it into the dirt at an angle, facing the sky. “There’s none of the legal trademarks or anything on this thing, Brett.”

“We’re werewolves, we can survive if it malfunctions.” He insisted, hooking his thumbs into his belt loops, dragging his trousers that bit lower, and the smoothness of his navel came tantalizing into view. “Plus, there’s a bottle of water in the back if needs be.”

“Hmm, alright.” Liam nodded once and ran back to the car, reaching in to grab a long portfire and then returning. He held out his hand for the lighter and then gestured for Brett to move back. Liam waited for him to be at the car and then he lit the taper before darting forward and igniting the fuse. “Done!”

Liam stepped back at once and dashed over to Brett as the fuse burned with a showy display of white sparks. They both looked into the air expectantly.

Nothing happened.

“It’s a dud!” Liam glared at Brett. “I knew that thing was too flashy! ‘Rootin, tootin-’ Hey! Get back here!”

“What? It’s not doing anything.” Brett shrugged as he moved over to the rocket, reaching out to touch the fuse. “There’s more fuse here, see? Let’s light it again, maybe-”

“Oh my god, how can someone so hot be so stupid?!” Liam cried out before slapping his hand across his mouth. “I can’t believe I just said that out loud.”

“Yeah, well, I am the eternal stud.” Brett smirked and flexed his arms until his biceps bulged and pulled his pecs upwards, his abs clenching tight. “Do you want to see me nak-”

“Don’t you dare quote that ridiculous Tik Tok video at me.” Liam glowered at him and blew out the taper. “I don’t need to know how much you enjoy being naked.”

“You sure about that?” Brett grinned smugly as Liam glowered at him. 

“Just be careful, it could literally go off at any time.” Liam tried to ignore him and inched closer to the defective rocket. “Ok, uh, we should leave it there for about twenty minutes and then dump it in that jug of water you have.”

“Man, this is so disappointing.” Brett sighed and his shoulders slumped, his usual cheerfulness vanishing.

“I’m sorry.” Liam shuffled over and patted Brett’s back awkwardly. _So muscular! So smooth! Slightly sweaty, but he smells goooood._ “There’s always the midnight show outside town hall. It’s only ten-thirty now, we have time to grab something to eat and get a good spot.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Brett paused and looked down at the firework. “Do you hear hissing?”

“What? Oh no! Get back!” Liam cried out, but before they could move away, the rocket detonated and engulfed them in clouds of acrid purple smoke. He coughed and swatted his hand in front of his face as tears streamed from his eyes. Liam stumbled around and bumped into Brett, managing to open his eyes enough to see the wide grin from the rocket’s nosecone lingering in the smoke, outlined in electric green before a second explosion crashed over them, mocking laughter filling the air. The force pushed them back for half a second and then yanked them forward, pulling both werewolves into an overwhelming cyclone of noise and smoke and endless, empty darkness.

Several seconds later, Liam crashed into hot, dry dirt and groaned loudly as his vision slowly returned. “Ow.”

“Try body-slamming the ground shirtless…” Brett grunted from Liam’s right. “Ugh, that sucked.”

“Yeah, it did.” Liam nodded in agreement and forced himself off the earth, freezing in his push-up when he saw that the cut grass of the field had been replaced with a wide expanse of desert, early morning sun breaking through light clouds in the far distance over a plain of scrubland and towering hills. “Brett? Brett, get up!”


	3. For the Love of Assless Chaps

Liam slumped back into a sitting position when Brett finally rolled over and blinked up at the pale blue sky overhead. “What the hell happened? Where are we?” He sighed and looked around blearily. “Brett?”

“Some firework, huh?” The other werewolf released a wry chuckle as Liam glared at him. 

“It’s not funny!”

“Yeah, ok, calm down.” Brett climbed to his feet and brushed the dirt from his chest. “So what do you think happened?”

“I don’t know,” Liam accepted the offered hand to stand up. “This doesn’t look like Beacon Hills though.” They were in the middle of a dusty scrubland, the ground nearby was cracked and hard, only a few straggly bushes growing around outcroppings of red rocks. Behind them loomed a steep gravelly cliffside that kept going upwards until it leveled out into a flattop stretching into the distance. The stone was a pretty melding of pink and red hues, but Liam turned away from the natural beauty and instead looked around the area where they had woken up. “Hey, check this out.”

“Huh? Oh.” Brett followed him over and crouched next to a large scorch pattern burnt into the soil. He reached out and picked up a piece of charred red paper, turning it over in his hands before looking up at Liam. “I guess this is the remains of the rocket.”

“Yeah, probably, but it doesn’t make any sense unless…” Liam trailed off as an uncomfortable sensation settled in his stomach. “This is going to sound crazy.”

“Yeah, well, unless that firework was an actual rocket, I don’t see how we got here. It looks like we’re in Utah or somewhere.” Brett replied hotly. “If you have a theory, spit it out!”

“You remember a few weeks back at the pack graduation when Scott said that he and Stiles time-traveled after touching a pole in the forest?”

“No one believed them. And they couldn’t have been serious.”

“I don’t think it’s impossible.” Liam said stubbornly as Brett scoffed and shook his head. “I think what happened to them might have happened to us.”

“Does this look like Medieval Germany to you?” Brett arched a brow critically and then answered his own question. “No, it doesn’t. The firework blew up, there was some thick smoke and we passed out, maybe we wandered around for a bit. The desert isn’t far from home.”

“It’s a three hour drive.” Liam glared at Brett again. “I don’t have my phone and you’re half dressed, explain that.”

“You dropped it, obviously.” He smirked suddenly. “And it’s actually pretty warm here, so I don’t even need a shirt. Probably don’t even need pants to be honest…”

“Do your one man strip show another time, Brett!” Liam shouted at him. “We need to figure out what’s going on!”

“Alright, alright, calm down.” Brett patted Liam on the head playfully as the other werewolf went bright red and the sound of his teeth grinding against each other became audible. He turned away from Liam and pointed along the cliff’s edge, towards white smoke curling into the morning sky. “Let’s go that direction, figure out where we are and get someone to come pick us up.”

“Fine.” Liam growled. “But if you ever touch me like that again, I’ll break your fucking fingers!”

Brett just grinned at him and started walking. “C’mon, let’s go, I could really use a drink!”

By the time they reached the source of the smoke, the sun was high in the sky and beating down mercilessly upon them. Sweat crept down Liam’s scalp and under the collar of his shirt to stick uncomfortably to his back. His underwear was damp and chafing horribly against his crotch and thighs, and his brow was slick with the exertion of walking in shoes that had been chosen to match his outfit rather than for comfortable walking. _At least there aren’t any flies around…_

While Brett seemed to be cooler, Liam noticed that his shoulders and neck were already turning a shade of dark pink under the dirt that still covered his naked torso. His body and muscles were equally as sweat slick as Liam’s and he couldn’t help but glance over at Brett every now and again, appreciating the view. For his part, Brett seemed focused on reaching their destination, squinting his eyes against the harsh glare of the sun on the arid ground.

A tall wooden structure came into view as they moved around several large boulders, metal gears and wheels attached to the upper part of the frame, feeding ropes and pullies down towards the cliff face. A rickety metal-walled building had been constructed next to the tower and a fire was blazing in front of it, firewood crackling as it released the plume of white smoke that had led them here. There were only a few men standing around the fire, the rest were walking in and out of a large, distinctive mineshaft that had been built into the cliff, the entrance buttressed with thick planks of wood. Those coming out were covered in grime and sweat, carrying pickaxes, shovels, and cloth caps with metal attachments containing a flickering flame. _Miners,_ Liam thought to himself. _They don’t look that out of date, but we could be anywhere._

As Liam and Brett approached the mining camp, a trolley emerged from the mine entrance, pushed by several half-naked young men, their grime streaked muscles straining under the heavy load. They paused to let the workers pass and Liam craned his head to see what was inside the cart. _Huh, just rocks._ He gestured for Brett to follow him over to a large man in a waistcoat and top hat, his face red and perspiring in the morning heat. “Let’s ask this guy.”

“Hmm, I didn’t think there were any working mines in California anymore.” Brett whispered to him. “This is weird.”

“I’m telling you, it’s time-travel.” Liam muttered back. “Now be quiet and let me do the talking.” Brett just nodded and Liam walked up to the well-dressed man. “Hi there.”

“Good morning, young man.” He replied in a southern drawl before looking over Liam and Brett with a critical eye. “Not exactly the sort of weather to be out for a stroll, is it?”

“Uh, my friend and I got a little lost last night,” Liam gestured back at Brett. “And we’ve kind of, well, can you point us in the direction of the nearest town?”

“Hmm.” The man sucked loudly on his teeth and smacked his lips. He then pointed past the metal shed towards a smudge in the hazy distance. “Edgarsmill, about three miles from here, maybe two and a half.”

“Thanks, I can’t say I’ve heard of it.”

“Got lost you say?” He appeared to be weighing them up as Liam nodded carefully. “What were you boys doing out here in the first place? There’s nothing around for miles and where are your horses? The Sheriff’s been very active in keeping this area free from bandits, so I doubt you were…ah.”

“What?” Liam narrowed his eyes suspiciously at him.

“You’re with that new mining venture from back east? Here to scout out the lay of the land?”

“That depends on which company you mean.” Brett answered before Liam could speak. “You’re looking for gold?”

“Everyone is looking for gold, son.” The man shrugged. “You can tell Mr Akis Jr that every plot between here and the Bodie Hills has been tapped or claimed. Akis Mining is gonna have to go further north.”

“Err, sure, we’ll tell him.” Liam muttered and then hummed softly under his breath. “Ugh, Edgarsmill, is it a big town?”

“Meh, a couple of saloons, about half a dozen mining offices.” He cleared his throat and looked past them towards the mouth of the mine shaft, his attention wandering as he continued distractedly. “There’s a hardware and supply store near the Sheriff’s office and the post office, of course.”

“Ah, post office, eh?” Liam’s expression lit up and he exchanged a look with Brett. “Do they, uh, have a telephone?”

“Telephone?” He echoed the word back, confusion clear on his face. “Hmm, I don’t know about that, do you mean telegraph?”

“Err, yes, of course, sorry.” Liam nodded quickly.

“Last year I believe, that was the first time it was used, the first time it came out this far, heading towards San Francisco.”

“Great, thanks for your help.” Liam offered him a brief smile, noticing that the other miners were staring at them. He grabbed Brett’s wrist and hurried him out of the mining camp before they could be asked any more questions. “C’mon!”

“Yeah, I think we’re far enough away now, Liam.” Brett shook him loose once they were back in the scrubland. “What was that about? Why did you run away from him? He could have told us more.”

“I didn’t want to overstay our welcome, besides, I didn’t like the way they were staring at our shoes.”

“Oh.” Brett looked down at his feet and grimaced. “I guess we’re going to need a disguise, huh?”

“Yeah.” Liam blinked. “Wait, does this mean you accept that we’re back in time?”

“Maybe,” Brett shrugged and then smirked suggestively at him. “But I have a cowboy kink so this’ll be fun either way!”

“Ugh, you’re impossible!” Liam groaned a little louder than he meant to, trying to ignore the swooping sensation that had rushed through his stomach when an image of Brett in a Stetson and nothing else flashed through his mind. “Let’s just go, I’d like to get to Edgarsmill before the sun reaches midday and we get baked alive.”

Liam wiped the sweat from his brow and narrowed his eyes as the sun’s unforgiving rays bounced off the shiny metal warehouse roofs just in front of them. They were finally at Edgarsmill, the town appeared to have only two streets running in a cross shape with buildings clustered around the intersection. The town itself had been built in a valley surrounding the hills with a flat portion extending back the way Liam and Brett had just come, out into the desert. 

About a dozen men were hard at work on the outskirts of the town, clearing land and unloading construction materials from several wagons, while more laborers were heading towards the town’s namesake mill which stood on a slight rise above the banks of a parched river, metal blades swiping through the air smoothly.

Wooden buildings with rustic signs and hastily constructed sheds dotted the edges of the settlement near yet more mineshafts dug into the hills that surrounded the town. Liam glanced around, nodding to himself when he saw the sign for Akis Mining over a newly built two story office, blue sapphire lettering on a green background. It seemed unusually bright and vibrant compared to the others and was a hive of activity with people coming and going in an constant stream. “Look.”

“I see it.” Brett huffed, wiping his forehead with his arm. “You’re not actually thinking of passing on that message?”

“No, I just…hmm.” He paused when Brett wandered over to a nearby horse trough and splashed water on his face and chest, washing away the sweat and dirt. Liam watched as the door of the mining office opened and a young man walked out of the mining office. He leant against the railing that ran around the front of the building, an awning overhead providing shade for the boardwalk. His features were cast into shadow, but his clothes seemed to be of better quality than the others around him and he carried himself with a certain authoritative posture. The man appeared to notice Liam’s attention and tugged on the front of his hat politely before returning inside. “Hmm.” Liam clicked his tongue and then diverted his attention to Brett. “Are you ok?”

“Just hot and uncomfortable.” Brett pushed his wet hair out of his face and pointed further down the street. “There seem to be houses that way, it’s all stables and workshops out here. Too many people who might see us if we try and grab clothes.”

“Wait, you want to steal them from someone’s laundry line?” Liam glared at him. “This isn’t a movie, Brett. Let’s just find a clothing store and buy something.”

“I thought you didn’t have your phone?”

“I have my wallet.” Liam patted his back pocket before shrugging when Brett frowned. “I would have told you earlier if you weren’t being such a fucking tease.”

“Meh, you like it when I flirt with you!” Brett smirked at Liam’s stony expression. “Alright, if you think that’s the best move, then let’s do it. I’ll pay you back after we get home.”

“Ok.” Liam blinked. _He’s not fighting me on this? For once…_ “This way.” He gestured for Brett to follow him and together the duo walked down the street. As they progressed further into the town, the newer buildings gave way to more established dwellings and places of business. They passed several general goods stores and a provisioner, one of the stock boys pointing them onward towards a haberdashery next to the largest saloon in town, Clancy’s. 

He let Brett enter before him, both greeting the haberdasher with a short nod and an honest look even as the silver-haired man arched his brows at Brett’s shirtless state. “Good afternoon.” Liam spoke politely, gesturing at himself and Brett. “As you can see, we’re in need of some new clothes.”

“Indeed, did something happen to you boys?” He stuck his thumbs under his suspenders and looked them up and down. “Are you sure you can pay?”

“Yeah, uh, I mean, yes, I can pay.” Liam pulled out his wallet and took out a twenty dollar note. “It’s, um, a new printing from back east.”

“Is it now?” The haberdasher mused as he inspected the note. “Well, it seems legitimate, but twenty dollars? I’m not sure I have enough change for that here.”

“We’ll need a whole new wardrobe, both of us. And there’ll be a generous, uh, tip for you if we don’t have to wait, Mr…uh?”

“Drayer and Sons!” He flashed them a yellowed smile. “One of my boys can measure you up, I’ll do the cutting and stitching and before you know it, you’ll be strutting around town in the finest fabrics west of the Colorado!”

“That sounds perfect, Mr Drayer.” Liam replied quickly, taking the bill back. “Maybe you can start with Brett?”

“Very well, young fella, step through here,” He gestured at a backroom and Brett walked inside. “Alright, I’ll have my assistant measure your fine strapping self! Mmh!”

“Ok, Liam!” Brett called out as the curtain was pulled back and he strode out. “What do you think?”

“I…” Liam trailed off, his prepared sarcasm forgotten as he took in Brett’s new look. He was wearing a blue and white checked shirt with large silver buttons holding it together along his right side rather than down the middle. It was looser than Liam was expecting, the long sleeves hiding Brett's arms, only the open collar hinting at the expanse of smooth, tanned flesh underneath. _Ok, slightly disappointing he won’t be putting on a gun show just by existing._ A handsome yellow bandanna was slung around his neck and a pair of soft looking gloves were pushed into the strap of his belt. Liam pulled his eyes further down and frowned. "Hang on, what are you wearing? Those aren't trousers."

"I did suggest some denim like yourself, sir." The haberdasher replied with a shrug. "But your friend insisted that you were going to need chaps."

"Yeah, I imagine he did." Liam muttered sourly. The heavy tan leather pants covered Brett's legs and draped over his shiny new boots. _Aren't there meant to be jeans under those things? All he has on are his CKs!_ He sighed and nodded for Brett to come forward, unable to tear his eyes away from the well-shaped bulge that protruded from the front of Brett’s crotch. “Did you at least get a hat?”

“I will, but I want to see your outfit first.” Brett smirked at him and lowered his voice. “I know how much you enjoy looking at my sexy body, but cowboy apparel just isn’t skimpy-”

“Brett.” Liam growled warningly.

“-but, hey, now you get to see what you’ve wanted to be on display since the beach!”

“I’m going to fucking kill you.”

“Will you make sure Liam gets a pair of these too?” Brett slapped the leather of the chaps as he spoke to Mr Drayer, ignoring Liam’s furious glare and reddening face. “We’re going to need them.”

“Certainly, sir.”

“Fine.” Liam huffed and followed the man into the backroom where his young assistant-presumably, Mr Drayer’s son based on the slight resemblance-was waiting with a measuring tape. “What do I do?”

“Stand on the stool please and take off your clothing down to your-”

“I understand.” Liam cut across him quickly and pulled off his shirt. 

“So, are you ranchers from back east?”

“Something like that.” Liam muttered noncommittally as he held out his arms. “Let’s just say we’re looking for something that will help us get back to where we need to be.”

“Ah, here for the gold rush, eh?” The youth smiled and flicked the tape expertly as he measured Liam’s chest and torso. “There’s been a lot of interest around here since that first seam was found a year ago.”

“Mmh.” Liam tilted his head up to look at the shelves of cloth and leather. “Do you have a, uh, a fireworks vendor here?”

“Not here, no, although there is a travelling merchant that occasionally swings through Edgarsmill, he usually has a stock.” The haberdasher started pulling down shirts and holding them up against Liam before shaking his head and trying something different. “There’s the black powder mill of course, up on the hill…”

“I hope you’re happy.” Liam grumbled as he and Brett emerged into the dry afternoon heat, his new denim shirt feeling surprisingly cool and not as tight as he had feared. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into wearing this.”

“It frames your two best assets!” Brett smirked and smacked Liam’s cotton covered ass playfully.

“Brett!”

“Oooh, so firm and bouncy!”

“Brett!”

“Face it, your personality isn’t going to be winning any awards!” He grinned wider when Liam all but snarled at him. “Careful now, you’ll pass out in this heat if you get too worked up! Unless that’s your plan so I have to give you mouth-to-mouth-”

“Let’s just grab a drink and figure this shit out.” Liam ground his teeth together in an effort to control his mounting frustration and anger. The fact that his cock was hardening, and he no longer had pants to hide the swelling bulge from Brett’s notice made Liam look around in desperation for cover. “Over here.” He pointed at Clancy’s across the street and started walking without waiting for Brett to join him. 

Liam pushed open the swinging doors as a wave of noise and scents flooded over him. He choked for a moment on the smell of the unwashed patrons before managing to push through it and walk further inside. It was darker inside and the sudden gloom helped to conceal his hardon. Tables were scattered throughout the room while a man sat in front of some sort of piano, playing a jaunty tune that managed to thread through the conversations. 

He glanced back to see Brett had followed him inside and he nodded towards a table in the rear that had been unclaimed. Liam continued on towards the bar itself and shouldered his way through the group of men who were mostly occupying it. They glanced at him, rough expressions judging his clothes before they moved away. “Huh.” Liam grunted and looked at the barman. “Uh, two beers, please.”

“Alright.”

“And, uh, two glasses of water.” Liam held the barman’s gaze as he frowned and then nodded. “Thanks.”

“That’ll be fifty cents.”

“Um, sure.” Liam blinked and then pulled a handful of change from his wallet, counting it out and sliding it across the bar. He accepted the drinks on a tray and hurried over to Brett. “Here, it’s warm, by the way.”

“Yeah, I expected as much.” Brett shrugged and took a long drink of water. “Good job we’re werewolves, huh? Who knows how pure this is?”

Liam just nodded and sipped his beer before pulling a face. “Ugh.”

“Ok, so we’re dressed, we’re drinking, from the sounds of things, modern money works just fine-”

“I think I’m practically a millionaire.”

“How much cash do you have anyway?”

“Err, forty bucks?” Liam shrugged. “I’m just hoping that we won’t be here long enough to find out how far that’s going to get us.”

“Ok,” Brett took another drink and kept his voice low. “So, it’s pretty clear that we’re time travelling, I admit it took me a while to see that, but all this is pretty convincing. The question is why are we here and how do we get back? What did Scott tell you about his and Stiles’ trip?”

“Uh, he kinda stopped talking after I laughed at him.” Liam smirked as Brett pursed his lips. “Hey, it was crazy, even for Beacon Hills. But I remember him saying something about how they were teleported by this maypole thing and that they got back the same way using a different one.”

“Uh huh.”

“Hmm, I think he said it had to be empowered or something.”

“Empowered by what?” Brett asked as Liam shrugged. “Blood maybe?”

“Well, I mean that makes sense, how else would he empower it?” Liam nodded slowly. “I don’t know if that will work for us though; find a firework and bleed over it?”

“No way, it has to be a special firework, like the one that brought us here.” He finished the beer with a grimace and then tapped on the rough wooden surface of the table. “And we’re probably not going to just stumble over another one like that, are we?”

“No.” Liam held Brett’s intense gaze for a moment longer than was comfortable. “Do you have a plan?”

“I heard those haberdashers talking about the gunpowder mill on the edge of town; I reckon if we can get our hands on some of that and make a replica rocket, we can at least repeat the explosion and see if that’s effective.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea.”

“If you have a better one, I’m listening.” Brett snapped at him and Liam just huffed. “Exactly. All we have to do is break into the mill and grab some-”

“No, just no.” Liam cut across him with a quick shake of his head. “I’m not getting shot for this. Look, those mining companies have to be using TNT and other explosives, we can just as easily infiltrate one of those and get the stuff with less chance of becoming the next Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!”

“I think we’d actually be first,” Brett mused. “That wasn’t until the late 1890s.”

“Hardly the point.”

“Ok, fine, drink up.” Brett gestured at him and tugged at the collar of his shirt, clearly uncomfortable. “What company do you want to target?”

“We already know one that’s just getting started.” Liam replied, finishing his warm beer with a grimace. “Let’s begin there.”

They returned to the outskirts of town as the sun began its slow journey towards the horizon, passing by a collection of stables and blacksmiths, horse-drawn wagons loaded with ore and other construction materials heading towards another town further away, perhaps one with a rail connection. Liam grabbed Brett’s arm when he spotted a group of armed men escorting a wagon from the powder mill towards the Akis Mining office. The group was met by the young man Liam had seen earlier that day, although his attention was fixed firmly on the cases and boxes in the wagon. “Hang on, let’s observe them.”

“In here.” Brett led him into the shade between two buildings opposite the office and they watched as the crates were unloaded, enhanced hearing allowing them to listen in on the conversation. “Black powder?” Liam glanced at Brett, but the other werewolf was just as confused. “Are we too early for TNT or dynamite?”

“I don’t know anything about explosives.” 

“Hmm, I wish I had paid more attention to my uncle right now, I don’t even know how fireworks are made.” Liam sighed. “How about we just go see where it’s being stored and figure out a way to get in there? It’s not like we’ll need more than a handful of powder, right?”

“Ok, let’s check it out.” Brett took the lead this time and wandered over to the office building, Liam following him closely. 

Akis Mining looked much the same as the other buildings along this street; wooden walls and boardwalks covered in cloth awnings, thin glass in the windows, horses tied up out front. The duo walked inside the open door, finding themselves in a small lobby with a tall, narrow counter dividing the space and another door leading into the back area, partially obscured by a metal gate. There were posters on the wall, advertising everything from mining equipment for sale to recruitment for laborers and miners to the “latest” news from cities on the east coast. 

“Can I help you?” A blond-haired youth in his late teens was sitting behind the counter at a desk, delicate glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. “Gentlemen?”

“Ah, yes, we’re looking for…” Brett hesitated when Liam gave him a panicked look. “Work. We’re looking for work.”

 _Really? I suppose he could have come up with a worse excuse._ Liam scowled at the floor as the youth exclaimed softly and stood up.

“Excellent, Thom, err, Mr Akis Jr will be happy to hear that: competition for labor is fierce out here.” The youth extended a hand. “I’m Sam Mercer, pleased to make your acquaintance, assistant to the boss, accountant, and general manager. Err, sorry, I forget that I’m not in Boston anymore, I’m trying to be less formal.”

“No need to apologize for being polite.” Brett smiled back and shook his hand firmly. He let Liam introduce them and then spoke again. “So what sort of work can you offer us?”

“Well, we’ve just blasted a new shaft in the Barrier Hills a few miles north of town, it’s quite promising,” Sam replied confidently. “We need miners to clear the rubble and start going deeper, Thom thinks there’s a good source of gold in there.”

“Is that Mr Akis?”

“Mr Akis Jr, yes, his father works in the main office on the east coast, this is his first posting in the West.” Sam continued on, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “We hit big here, we’ll all be set for life.”

“Uh huh.” Brett shared a look with Liam and then glanced back at Sam. “Well, we’re much stronger than we look, and I don’t mind getting dirty.”

“I’m afraid the heat will be your greatest enemy for now,” Sam didn’t seem to notice Brett’s attempt at flirting and Liam smirked to himself. “In any case, the pay is four dollars a week and you can stay in the bunkhouses behind the storage yard. Board isn’t included, but Betsy’s down the street does quite excellent food at reasonable price.”

“That’s great, I'm starving." Brett looked at Liam. "Sounds alright, huh, Liam?”

“So close to the storage yard, hmm.” Liam pondered aloud and then nodded as Sam watched him with apprehension. “I can live with the extra noise, it’s not a problem.”

“Excellent, I’ll show you where it is, and Mr Akis will want to meet you in person-he does that with all the new hires.” Sam came around the counter and gestured for them to follow him. “This way.”

Liam stared at him, immediately noticing that-much like Brett-Sam was wearing assless chaps, although the exposed parts of his body were covered in light linen drawers that allowed his obvious, _large_ endowment to bounce around. _Holy fuck! Talk about being comfortable at work!_ Brett grinned at him and waggled his brows suggestively. _At least he’s having fun, but damn, I’m getting hard again!_


	4. Brett's Secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following chapter contains explicit sexual content without the use of protection; see the tags for more details.

“Phew.” Liam puffed and paused in his labors, resting against the pickaxe as the sound of rock-breaking echoed around him. The stone face in front of him was becoming smoother the more he worked at it, but there was none of the enticing glimmer of something precious that could be extracted from the layers of rock. The soft light of torches flickered and pressed against his naked torso as sweat wound its way down his pumped muscles through streaks of dirt and dust. Liam glanced across his portion of the mine shaft to where Brett was still swinging his pickaxe with unbreakable vigor.

The other werewolf was wearing little more than a mining harness; straps over his shoulders leading down to a half kilt that was essentially a bum-flap, leaving his cock and balls visible. It enabled him to have full freedom of movement and low heat generation in exchange for little protection-and infuriating body confidence. The sight of Brett in the outfit was enough to make Liam rock hard in his trunks, which inevitably led to him being aroused all day with only brief respites when he and Brett were separated in the tunnel. His horniness wasn’t helped when he’d have to share a shower with Brett at the end of the shift: naked together under a makeshift hose and bucket system. Thankfully, the cold water was enough to keep him from actually being erect around Brett, even though the other guy definitely knew Liam was aroused all the time. 

Aroused and frustrated.

It wasn’t just about Brett, of course; a little over two weeks ago, they had slipped into the storage yard at Akis Mining, climbing the fence and evading the night watchmen that were patrolling the warehouses. After sneaking past rows of mining equipment and construction materials, the duo entered the gunpowder storage bunker, a stone building with thick walls and a thin metal roof. As they had seen the day before, there was a chest of black powder for blasting kept in the center of the room. Brett had cracked the lock as Liam kept watch, each taking a pocketful of gunpowder before making their escape.

If their theft had been noticed, nothing was said to them and Liam bought the rest of the materials in town the next day: a long taper, some sticks, thick red card, and a coil of safety fuse. That evening, after their shift in the mines, tired and hopeful, Liam and Brett set up the homemade rocket in the dirt garden behind their cabin. The rest of the miners had left to get dinner and the managers were holed up in their office, leaving them with a short window of opportunity. Liam had been certain that he had built the firework correctly; it may not have had the necessary materials for the colored displays, but it _should_ have worked.

Instead, the rocket blew up in front of them, sending both werewolves tumbling backwards as the blast wave rained dirt and rock around them like shrapnel. It was a failure, resulting in a small crater and some awkward explanations when Sam and Mr Akis came running. Brett had wanted to try again, but Liam managed to talk him out of it over a few days, saying that they must have missed something. Even Brett’s offer to empower the next firework with his blood didn’t convince Liam that the attempt would be successful. Instead, they had agreed to think things over and continue working at the mine in case they needed access to more gunpowder in the future.

Liam pressed his lips together as he turned back to his portion of the mine shaft. They were to extend this area to the left and right while other miners dug further down and into the hill. The work would have been difficult if not for his superhuman stamina and strength, although both he and Brett were careful not to be _too_ productive. And while the conditions were grim compared to modern work, with little light, stale air, and getting covered in sweat and dust every day, Liam found something strangely satisfying in the physical nature of it. They had made significant progress since joining the company, enough to merit dining one evening with the boss. Thom had been different to what Liam had expected, neither brash nor arrogant, merely a son following his father’s instructions. He didn’t appear to have much interest in mining or the gold rush, and wasn’t competing for the limited worker pool, but rather he seemed content to wait until they found something. 

Brett had taken to him instantly, but Liam found the werewolf’s constant flirtation attempts grating. Much like Sam, Thom appeared not to notice Brett’s advances and sometimes Liam thought Brett was only flirting because he knew how much it irritated him, there was something in the throwaway glances Brett sent his way to make Liam suspicious. The fact that they were sharing a cabin alone made it impossible to avoid being around him, and Brett seemed to be milking that proximity; frequently walking around naked after his shower, sleeping in the buff, taking a bunk opposite Liam so he always woke up being presented by Brett’s morning wood or his cherry ass… All so Brett could laugh it off and pretend he was just fooling around without any intent to actually _fool around_.

Liam sighed and stepped back from the loose rock around his work area, reaching up to grab his water bottle from the canvas bag slung around one of the support beams. “Hey Brett?”

“Yeah?” The other werewolf paused in his labor and set down his pickaxe with a dull thud. “What is it?”

“Just wondering if you wanted a drink?”

“I’m fine, I have my own water here.” He gestured at his canteen and nodded at Liam. “How are you getting on?”

“Good, nearly through that sandstone layer.” Liam replied shortly, taking a mouthful of water. “It doesn’t seem like the best place to be mining, to be honest.”

“I can feel that.” Brett came closer to him and gestured over his shoulder. “Pretty sure I hit a layer of shale, it’s coming away in slabs.”

“Uh huh.” Liam nodded as though he understood the implications even as his hungry eyes roved over Brett’s sinewy torso, his chest rising and falling as he recovered his breath, his tanned skin gleaming in the torchlight. Even though Liam could use his werewolf eyes to penetrate the gloom around Brett’s crotch, he preferred to let the shadows do their work and enjoyed the glimpses of a heavy shape swinging to and fro when Brett moved around. His abs were clenching and twisting, perhaps on purpose, Liam was staring at him openly now, his gaze fixed, unable to look away. 

“See something you want?” Brett smirked, a cocky expression on his face as Liam abruptly scowled. “Aww, don’t play coy, Liam, even if I couldn’t smell the pungent scent of your arousal, your dick is basically ripping through those cotton shorts of yours!”

“Shut up.” Liam muttered, blushing furiously under his layer of grime. “I don’t know what you’re-”

“Cave-in!” The panicked screaming came from further down the mineshaft and was promptly accompanied by the sound of falling rock and the arrival of clouds of thick dust. “Everyone out! Every-agh!”

“Let’s get out of here!” Brett shouted and grabbed Liam’s arm, paying no heed to his pained yelp. “C’mon!”

“Alright, alright!” Liam cried and followed Brett up the long slope of the mine towards the entrance, looking back only once to see a rushing fog of intense black smoke chasing them. “Faster, Brett!”

“I gotchu!” Brett shouldered Liam in the back as they approached the mouth of the mine, sending him sprawling forwards and out into the hot afternoon sun. The werewolf threw himself outwards and fell on top of Liam as the cloud of dust and debris exploded out behind them, spiralling into the air. “Liam?”

“I’m ok.” Liam grunted, rolling over so he could push Brett off him. “You?”

“Yeah, I’m alright, I think.”

“What the fuck happened?”

“Cave-in, I heard.” Brett muttered and coughed violently as the smoke rolled over them. He accepted Liam’s offered hand and stood up, both of them moving away to see if anyone else was coming out of the mine. There were footsteps behind them, Sam and Thom arriving with some other workers, both cursing loudly.

“What the hell happened?!” Thom demanded as Sam directed the workers to gather shovels and crowbars from the storage yard. “Did you see it?”

“No, I didn’t see anything.” Liam coughed dryly and accepted the offered canteen of water. “Everything was fine one moment and then the next…it was chaos.”

“Right.” Thom glared at the slowly clearing smoke and then gestured at Sam. “Once that dust cloud is gone, send in a search party, see if anyone is trapped or alive. How many were down there?”

“Twelve in the lower shaft.”

“Hmm, get on it.” The boss looked from Liam to Brett before nodding. “You should both go and get cleaned up, no more work today.”

“Thanks.” Brett replied and gripped Liam’s shoulder tight, steering him away from the disaster. “Let’s go.”

“What about the others?” Liam looked at him in surprise even as he started walking. “Big Phil? And Marcy? Are we not going to stay and help out? We could…”

“I know.” Brett shook his head and lowered his voice. “But we can’t; we’re not even supposed to be here, Liam, maybe this mine collapse was meant to happen. If we go back and rescue those guys and they were meant to die, we could mess up the timeline.”

“That’s fucked.” Liam complained bitterly. “We just let them die? We’re already messing up the timeline by being here, by working here, and we have to wait for some stupid travelling firework salesman to come back to town before getting home?! It’s bullshit!”

“I know! I know.” Brett sighed, directing them back to the cabin instead of the communal shower house. “Just get in here so we can talk without being overheard.”

“Fine.”

“Look, I wanted to try to build the rocket again, but you were right that we don’t know what we’re doing.” Brett explained as Liam entered the airless room and he closed the door after them. “I only suggested that the travelling merchant would have the firework we need, I don’t know if that’s the case.”

“It makes sense.” Liam grunted. “I’m gonna have some serious questions for that asshole whenever he rolls back into town. And if he says anything about it being shootin’, tootin’, it’s going to get nasty!”

“Have a drink, we can get cleaned up in a minute.” Brett poured him out a cup of water from the small cask in the corner. “Here.”

“Thanks.” Liam nodded and accepted the water. He gulped down half of it to clear the dust from his throat and then poured the rest over his head and onto his chest. His cotton shorts were soaked in sweat anyway and part of the side had torn open when they were running away, Liam only noticing the damage as he spread the water drops across his torso. “Gah!”

Brett was watching him from the other side of the room, leaning against one of the unused bunkbeds, skin streaked in smoke and dirt from the accident. But his eyes never left Liam’s hands as he continued to massage his now damp skin, Liam’s fingers drifting lower to undo the knotted cord at the front of the shorts and push them down, leaving him in nothing but work boots and bulging Hanes. The shape of his cock pushed against the fabric, showing off its large girth and obvious, heavy tip. Brett still made no move to leave him to undress alone, if anything, his own dick was hardening the more he stared at Liam.

Liam wetted his lips, suddenly dry again, and began to walk slowly over to Brett. He stopped when there was only a few inches between their torsos. He could almost feel the heat radiating off Brett’s chest, his skin gleaming in the dim light of the cabin, smooth and enticing to his eye. Liam looked upwards, running his gaze along Brett’s neck and onto his handsome face. He could suddenly feel something hard and hot pressing against his stomach and spared a glance down to the space between them. “Heh.” Liam smirked as Brett closed the distance and his cock pressed more fully against Liam’s abs. “Mmh.”

“Don’t say anything.” Brett whispered softly, his hands resting on Liam’s hips. He moved them slowly downwards, slipping his fingers underneath Liam’s underwear and pushing the fabric off his ass and crotch. There was a catch in Brett’s breathing when Liam’s dick was finally released and the thick member popped out, brushing hard against Brett’s balls and lower shaft. “Fuck…”

“You said no talking.” Liam smirked and reached up, placing his arms on Brett’s shoulders. He leant forwards, a pleasured groan escaping his lips when their cocks pressed and touched fully against each other, eagerness making him buck upwards into Brett. The other guy had closed his eyes, his perfect lips near to Liam now. Without waiting for the moment to turn or for either of them to speak and ruin it, Liam completed the movement and kissed Brett.

The kiss seemed to extend for an eternity, a fizzle of emotions, thoughts, and feelings exploding in Liam’s mind as he let himself experience the moment without need for commentary or reflection. Brett was kissing him back, his lips parted enough to act as an invitation for his tongue without initiating first. Liam’s tongue darted out, taking a dip into Brett’s mouth before retreating back. He felt a smile pull at his mouth when Brett returned the action and a moment later, their tongues met together in another explosion of overwhelming sensation. 

Liam finally pulled away a little when Brett made a motion to move back, each catching their breath as their cocks continued to press and rub against each other. “That was intense.”

“Yeah.” Brett admitted, keeping his hands on Liam’s ass, fingers massaging each cheek and gently pulling them apart. 

“Mmmh, a top, huh?” Liam groaned and shivered against him. He arched his back, so his ass fitted better into Brett’s grip, wiggling around a little to allow Brett to play with his muscular cheeks more. “Yeah, like that…”

“Hmm.” Brett kissed his lips softly, his eyes closed as his fingers found the crevice of Liam’s ass and the pad of his index finger pressed against the fluttering hole. He pushed just a little before moving the digit in and out roughly, drawing forth a needy groan from Liam’s throat. Brett abruptly stopped and resisted when Liam reached back to guide his fingers in again. “We should pause.”

“What? Why?” Liam looked up and frowned at him.

“There’s something I should tell you.”

“Ok?”

“Uh, it’s just before we go any further,” Brett looked incredibly uncomfortable and Liam immediately backed away. “Uh.”

“What is it?” The werewolf frowned, his erection subsiding. “Whatever is going on, it’s ok. And it’s cool if you’re not actually a top, we’ll figure something out.”

“Yeah, no, it’s…I am a top.” Brett shrugged awkwardly. “And a bottom.”

“Ok, you’re versatile, great, sounds awesome!”

“At the same time.”

“What?”

“I need to be them at the same time to fully get off, to even cum.” Brett replied, looking over Liam’s head as pink tinged his cheeks. “Don’t ask me why; it’s always been like this, even before the resurrection.”

“Wait, are you saying we can’t hook up because you’d need to be fucked while I’m riding you?” Liam stared at him, nonplussed. “What the hell, Brett?”

“Oh, we could hook up and you’d definitely cum.” A little of his usual smugness returned to Brett’s expression. “But I wouldn’t cum, and I’d just be left frustrated and hard, but with no release coming.”

“Yeah, ok, but maybe I could be the one to make you cum? Like, maybe you need to just hook up with another werewolf and problem solved.” Liam said as Brett stayed silent. “I mean, at least I’d get off and-”

“Just forget it, it was a mistake to think you’d even understand.” Brett snapped and turned away abruptly. He walked over to the door and pulled it open. “I’m going to shower.”

“Uh, ok?” Liam blinked, unsure how he had gone from making out and getting fingered to watching Brett leaving him high and dry with a semi and too many questions.

The next day’s dawn came bright and hot, the sun already blistering barely an hour after rising, but Liam was glad to be out of the cabin after enduring an awkward night with Brett. The other werewolf hadn’t come back from his shower the afternoon before, Brett later saying that he had gone down to Clancy’s. Liam had fired back with some snarky comment about finding a third to fuck Brett which resulted in the already tumultuous atmosphere turning into glacial chill. 

Thom had gathered the remaining miners around the company office, Brett and Liam standing opposite each other. The man was handing out cash to those that had quit and offering incentives for the few who were willing to stay on. “I know the collapse yesterday may have shaken your confidence in this operation and I’m not going to ask y’all to go back into a shaft that still has the corpses of the lost miners inside. I’m getting a crew in to recover their bodies and investigate the collapse. As a result, if you want to get paid for today, you’ll work in the exploration shaft up by Copper Canyon.”

There was some muted grumbling and several other miners walked away, leaving less than a dozen in front of the office. Thom sighed and continued speaking. “It’s a shallow mine but could hold some promise. I’ll need three, maybe even just two to start work on that, the rest of you can just haul construction gear and materials over to the Bodie Hill mine.” He looked around expectantly.

“I’ll go.” Liam raised his hand, joined a second later by Brett.

“Me too.”

“Alright, good.” Thom nodded, gesturing to the other miners that they were dismissed. “It’s not far; grab your equipment and I’ll get the horses.”

“You’re coming with us?” Liam arched a brow in surprise.

“Copper Canyon is about twenty minutes ride, if you find something, I want to be there.” Thom explained, handing the money bags back to Sam. “The mines here are in good hands.”

“Uh, sure, ok.” Brett glanced at Liam, but he avoided the look and the werewolf sighed. “Better head out then, it’s going to be a long hot day.”

The exploration shaft had been dug into the pinkish-red stone on the canyon’s southern entrance, close to the river that wound lazily through the geological feature, but not so close as to endanger the mine. It was about twenty feet deep, only the rear portion requiring torches as the sun reached quite far inside. Thom had set up next to the river, a panning dish sitting on the rocks next to him while Liam and Brett prepared to enter the mine.

As usual, they stripped out of their day clothes and into their mining outfits; Brett remaining in his skimpy straps while Liam donned a replacement set of cotton shorts. Both kept their boots on before picking up the bundle of tools, waving goodbye to Thom and entering the mine. The awkward silence that had lingered since the previous afternoon continued to drive a wedge between them and they moved to opposite sides of the narrow tunnel to begin work. 

Liam avoided looking over at Brett, as difficult as that was, and concentrated on his part of the rock face. It only took a few swings of his pickaxe before he was sweating in the hot air of the mine, his muscles hard and pumped from the repeated labor. Liam switched the tool for a hammer and chisel, chipping away at the stone as his thoughts formed into monotonous chains around why Brett gave such a weird reason for not hooking up with him. 

They had been so _close_ to bringing things further, to finally releasing all the tension between them. So what if Liam had jerked off after Brett left? It wasn’t as if they hadn’t given each other some alone time each day to take care of things, the situation they were in was stressful, despite neither of them wanting to discuss the exact problems. Liam didn’t have any ideas on how to get home and Brett’s plans kept getting wilder and less feasible. Hooking up probably wouldn’t help them, but Liam was eager for anything that might give him distraction.

“Woah!” Brett’s voice intruded on Liam’s thoughts. “Come check this out.”

“You found something?” Liam asked as he looked over, craning his neck to see if he could spot whatever Brett was staring at. “Is it gold?”

“I think so, look.” He pointed at the unmistakable glimmer of goldish rock in front of him. There was a smattering of dust at first which then thickened into a solid density to the point that no more of the pinkish rock of the cave was visible. “Wait here, I’ll get Thom.”

“Yeah, ok.” Liam muttered, unable to take his eyes off the deposit. “It’s stunning.”

A few minutes later, Thom returned with Brett, both of them joining Liam by the rockface. The man grinned eagerly and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, squeezing them tight. “Excellent work! This is incredible! We finally struck big!”

“We, huh?” Liam said quietly before Brett rolled his eyes at him. 

“Oh, don’t worry, you found the seam, you’ll be getting bonuses for sure!” Thom appeared to have heard him and Liam flushed. “Now, can you clear more of the rock around this deposit? I want to see how extensive it is.”

“Alright.” Brett took up his pickaxe again as Liam went back for his mallet and chisel. “You take the right side and I’ll go to the left; there’s probably more of the seam on your side.”

“Got it.” Liam nodded and started chipping away at the rock as Thom paced energetically behind them. He let his gaze drift sideways a little, taking in the flexing motion of Brett’s developed biceps as they moved in the candlelight, sweat dripping down his skin in a way that only seemed to enhance his eroticism. Liam blinked and averted his eyes quickly when Brett gasped. “What?”

“There’s a…cave here.”

“We’re in a cave.”

“I mean, it’s like a cubby hole or something.” Brett stood back and let Liam and Thom gather around him to look into the hollow space he had broken through to. “Let me get some light.”

“Hmm, interesting.” Thom murmured, stepping through the hole. “It’s big enough to stand in, and there appears to have been an entrance over here.” He pointed into the gloom, the edges of Brett’s torch showing hard packed stone and gravel, as though the cave mouth had collapsed. “I think someone once lived here.” Thom called out as he angled the light downwards. “There’s some broken pots, scraps of clothing, that sort of thing.”

“I just hope it’s not a Native burial ground, we don’t need that kind of bad luck.” Liam muttered as he peered into the cave. “Doesn’t look like there’s human bones in there.”

“No, I think it’s fine…” Thom trailed off as he kicked one of the pottery fragments over. “Hello!”

“Huh?” Brett shared a look with Liam when they heard his exclamation. “What is it? Are you alright?!”

“Take a look at this! It’s some sort of ancient tribal relic, I’d wager.” Thom pointed at the ground.

Liam went over to look, seeing a gleam of dull gold reflecting off Brett’s mining candle. He stared when Thom picked up the long, thick stick, abruptly blushing scarlet beneath the dust and dirt when he noticed the bulbous head on the end of the object. _That’s totally a dildo! A golden eight inch dildo!_

“I’m not quite sure what purpose it could be used for however.” Thom looked confused as he waved the object around idly. “Perhaps some religious ceremony? Or maybe as a wand for one of their wise women?”

“Oh, I bet she got plenty of use out of it.” Brett muttered before being elbowed sharply by Liam.

“Shut up!” Liam hissed at him and looked back at the dildo, inspecting it as Thom held it aloft to the torch light. It had a solid flared base that had been smoothed out to rounded corners, the head too was solid looking, while the central column was lighter and appeared to be hollow, based on the dirt that Thom was able to shake out of it, the debris falling from a small hole in the center of the shaft, near the base. “Uh, what are you going to do with that?”

“I’m…” Thom paused and looked at Brett before offering the dildo to him. “You discovered the seam and the cave, Brett, you should have this artefact. Consider it an advance on your bonus, perhaps you can sell it in town or to one of the passing merchants. There’s always one that’s looking for Native relics.”

“That doesn’t-” 

“I’ll take it!” Brett cut across Liam’s objections and grabbed the gold dildo from Thom. “Thanks!”

“You’re welcome.” There was a momentary glimmer in the man’s eye before it vanished, and he climbed back out of the collapsed cave. “Let’s head back to town, I’ll send a crew to secure the mine and we can start removing the ore tomorrow, eh? Take the rest of the day off, have a drink, celebrate this find!”

“Sure.” Liam nodded quietly as Brett avoided his eyes and put the dildo with the rest of his tools. 

They spent the afternoon as they often did, sitting in Betsy’s, eating and drinking and catching up with the locals. It wasn’t quite a diner as they knew it, but nor was it just a store or a saloon like other establishments around Edgarsmill, and the titular Betsy was kind and welcoming, always ready with some new story or gossip. Despite the earlier awkwardness, Brett was in a good mood and Liam was content not to bring up their disagreement from the night before. He half-expected Brett to mention the gold find or inquire about selling the “relic”, but neither topic came up and by the time dusk came and they were on their way back to the cabin, Liam felt obligated to say something.

He still waited until they were out of earshot of the nearby drinking hole and brothel, moving closer to Brett so his voice wouldn’t carry in the still evening air. “So, uh, you were pretty eager to take that, uh, relic from Thom earlier.”

“Mmh, it’s solid gold.” Brett didn’t look at him and his voice had a strange quality as though he was trying to hide something. “Plus, he didn’t know what it was.”

“Ah, so you’re aware that it’s a golden dildo, right?” Liam replied, feeling his cheeks heat up. “Do you want some alone time when we get back? I can head down to the saloon, get a drink or something.”

“They always look at you weird when you ask for water.”

“I’ll order whiskey then and enjoy the taste.” Liam snapped back sarcastically. 

“No, there’s no need for you to leave.” Brett said mildly as he opened the door to the cabin. He gestured for Liam to enter first and then shut the door after himself. “You can stay.”

“Aren’t you going to…use it?”

“Uh huh.” He nodded and undid the cords holding up his chaps. “And you can stay.”

“I’m confused.” Liam stammered, feeling his dick get hard and a swooping sensation fill his chest. “You want me to watch and jerk off, is that it?”

“No.” Brett sighed and looked at the ground for a long moment before raising his eyes and focusing on Liam. He looked more vulnerable than Liam had ever seen him. “Yesterday, I told you that I need three people to get off, right?”

“Yeah, hard to forget that.”

“Well, now we don’t.” Brett gestured at the dildo on the nearby dresser. “I’ll use that to get off, and we can hook up, you know, if you still want to.”

“Hmm.” Liam grunted, his thoughts racing. “I…I mean, I’m not sure-”

“Fine, forget it.” Brett snapped at him and grabbed the dildo. “I’m going outside.”

“Don’t!” Liam reached out and grasped Brett’s forearm, stopping him from leaving. He wetted his lips nervously. “What exactly do you want from me?”

“Your ass.”

“Pft!” Liam blinked at his frankness.

“Look, I can get off using this thing in my ass, it looks thick and smooth enough.” Brett replied examining the dildo from different angles. “And if you’re willing to take my cock, we’ll all get off.”

“Fuck.” Liam muttered, his cock hard and already leaking against his underwear. He saw Brett’s nostrils flare and knew he must be able to smell his eagerness. Liam nodded as he made the snap decision. “Ok, let’s do this. But I want something more out of it too.”

“Uh, ok?”

“You gotta let me ride you, I want to see your face the whole time, I want you to flex and pump your arms up, I want to touch and rub and feel your muscles, your nipples.” Liam said in one rush, only stopping when he ran out of breath. Brett looked both surprised and aroused, and Liam nodded again. “And we do this bareback, completely bareback; I wanna cum on your abs, your chest, your face, got it?”

“Sounds hot!” Brett grinned and tossed the dildo on the bed before he closed the distance between them rapidly and crushed his lips against Liam’s own. “Mmh!”

They kissed for a little longer before desire and lust overcame them and each stepped back almost at the same time. Liam quickly unbuttoned his shirt as Brett did the same, both wearing the outfit they had bought on that first day in Edgarsmill. Once they were naked save for their underwear, the duo kissed again, a subtle reassurance that this was happening, that perhaps it was more than just a quick hook up to satisfy needs. But Liam tried not to overthink the moment and instead took Brett’s hand, leading him to the bed.

“You ok?” Brett arched a brow as Liam sat down on the edge of the hard mattress. He pushed his thumbs into his CKs and pulled his underwear down and off, his cock already hard and ready.

“Oh yeah.” Liam nodded quickly and let his eyes fixate unashamedly on Brett’s perfectly proportionated seven inches. He swallowed thickly as his own cock throbbed needily and his asshole clenched eagerly. “I am so ok!” Liam stripped out of his trunks and tossed them to one side, before scooting back on the bed to give Brett room to join him. 

“Nice!” Brett grinned appreciatively at Liam’s hardness, reaching out to take his cock in one hand. Liam moaned as Brett worked his hand up and down the thick shaft, stopping just before his head to allow the precum to pool around the tip and then cascade down his length as Brett took his hand away. “Haha, you weren’t kidding about wanting this, although who can blame you?!” He smirked and flexed his arms until his biceps became hard bastions of muscle. “Go on, take a feel, a little teaser before the main event!”

“Ugh.” Liam rolled his eyes but didn’t waste the opportunity. He climbed onto his knees, using both hands to grip Brett’s biceps and alternated between squeezing the hard muscle and running his fingers over the smooth skin towards his forearms and then back to his shoulders and chest. “Mmh.” Liam couldn’t help but moan as he completed the actions, basking in the glory of Brett’s body on display for him, the soft amber light from the candles in the cabin made his tan deeper, gave his smooth skin a sleeker, softer sensation. He felt his dick get impossibly hard, precum drooling down his shaft to drip onto the thin blanket that covered the mattress. “Fuck…”

“I know.” Brett smirked again.

“Grr, are you always this insufferable in bed?” Liam glared at him and snatched his hands back abruptly.

“Meh, depends on how hot the other people are.” Brett shrugged and reached behind himself to grab the golden dildo. “Are you ready to get fucked?”

“What? No foreplay?” Liam blinked at Brett’s sudden frankness. “You just want to go?”

“Yeah, I figure we’re going to go a couple of times tonight, so there’ll be plenty of time for slowing it down later,” Brett pointed at him with the sex toy. “And since we’re both werewolves, things are gonna get wild!”

“What sort of wild?” Liam asked as excitement rushed all over his body, his imagination crashing through different scenarios. “Sixty-nine?”

“For starters,” Brett grinned again, his eyes twinkling with lust. “I can tell I have a lot to teach you!”

“Pfft!” Liam snorted and grabbed the dildo from Brett’s hand. “Do you have lube for that or how were you planning on getting it inside your ass?”

“I considered a few ways,” Brett looked at him deliberately. “Especially when you decided to stay. You’re going to put it in.”

“That was obvious.”

“Mmh, yeah.” Brett lay on his back with his feet flat on the bed, legs spread wide enough that Liam could see all the way from Brett’s heavy balls down his smooth taint towards his hole. The area itself was dark, only giving up its secrets when Liam let his eyes glow yellow, revealing a smooth pucker with an entrance that was clenching and releasing every few seconds. “You gonna stare at it all day, Liam? Or are you going to do something about it?”

“What about…you know…safe sex?”

“Werewolf immunity, plus I cleaned out this afternoon.” Brett replied to his stammered question. “You’ll be fine if you want to use your tongue as well as your fingers.”

“Fuck!” Liam blinked, as his stomach dropped unexpectedly at the suggestion. “I’ve seen it in porn before, but I’ve never actually rimmed anyone.”

“Well, here’s your chance.” He reached down and pulled his legs back to his chest, fully exposing his asshole for Liam. “It’s the only foreplay I’m willing to do right now.”

“Yeah, ok, I’ll try.” Liam replied a little nervously. He got down on his stomach in front of Brett and just took in the vision before him. Liam placed a hand on each of Brett’s smooth, muscular ass cheeks and pulled them apart a little more as Brett moaned encouragingly above him. His hole was revealed again, pink skin deepening into light red and then darkness as the sphincter clenched. Liam took a deep breath and moved his face forward, his lips brushing against the smooth skin as he kissed Brett’s ass.

“Uh, yeah, get in there, Liam!” Brett encouraged him loudly, rocking back against his face to get more contact between them. “Use your tongue! Use it like I know you want to!”

Liam was about to reply with a snarky reply, but a tingling sensation rushed down his jaw and into his spine when his lips parted, and he tasted Brett’s innermost region for the first time. “Ah!” He froze for a few seconds and then gave a cautious, exploratory lick, his tongue moving into the crevice, feeling Brett clench and release around him. Liam felt the tingle again, his cock shuddering this time as he unconsciously rubbed against the blanket beneath him. “Mmh!”

“Oh yeah! Do it again, Liam!” Brett moaned, reaching down with one hand to grip Liam’s head and guide his tongue back to the palace of pleasure. “Yeah, that’s it!”

Liam resisted Brett's grip and pulled back enough that he could see what he was doing before moving his face forward again. This time he took a long lick upwards with his tongue, going from the bottom of Brett's crack all the way up to the edge of his taint, swiping his tongue across his hole. Then Liam went on the attack; focusing on small, fast licks to dig his tongue into Brett's ass, his hands holding his cheeks wide apart, the bridge of his nose pressing under Brett's balls. 

“Aw, yeah, you’re so good!” Brett groaned above him, seeming to be genuinely enjoying Liam’s first attempts. “Wet my asshole! Get it ready for that golden dildo!”

"Mmmh!" He moaned into Brett's hole, the tip of his tongue diving deeper as salvia dripped down the sides of Brett's crack. Liam’s tongue darted energetically in and out of Brett’s hole, widening the gap and slicking him up as his free hand reached for the dildo. He finally pulled back, his face hot and flushed, eyes travelling up Brett’s open hole and onto his cock which was throbbing gently against his abs, still as hard as ever. “Are you ready?”

“Been waiting for this moment all day!” Brett grinned at him and nodded. “Go on, push it in.”

“Alright.” Liam nodded and sat back on his haunches. He inspected the dildo, turning it over in his hands, the golden surface gleaming in the candlelight the same way Brett’s muscular body had before. There was a certain allure to the metal, an almost magical attraction. Liam ran his fingers up and down the smooth shaft, rubbing the bulbous head between a thumb and forefinger before he lowered the dildo and guided it towards Brett’s hole. “Hmm, it’s warm to the touch, so it shouldn’t be-”

“Just get on with it already!” Brett urged him onwards, his hands spreading his ass cheeks wide enough to reveal the flared pink and rosiness of his recently rimmed asshole. “Stick it in me!”

“Fine!” Liam snapped and pushed the dildo into Brett’s ass more roughly than he had intended. The werewolf yelped and Liam made to pull the toy back out, but Brett slapped his hands away, instead impaling himself further onto the dildo. “Shit, sorry!”

“It’s fine…it’s perfect!” Brett groaned, arching his back and letting his hand fall away so his ass closed around the golden shaft. He sighed contentedly and then gestured for Liam to come closer. “Halfway there.”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded and moved so Brett could lay his legs down flat and Liam could climb onto him, straddling his thighs. “Hey, just so you know, I’ve had sex before.”

“Yeah? With Mason?”

“What?! No!” Liam grimaced. “That’d be like having sex with my brother, if I had a brother!”

“Ok, who then?”

“I’m not telling you that.” Liam flushed and looked away from Brett’s smirking expression. “My point is that I know what to do; condoms, lube, all that stuff, even if I haven’t done it with another werewolf before.”

“Ok, ok.” Brett nodded lazily, his cock as hard as it had ever been, standing erect and ready. “But unlike that hook-up, we don’t have any lube, so this might hurt more.”

“Uh huh,” Liam pressed his lips together as he slowly jerked himself off. “I have an idea, but it might be gross to you.”

“Say it.”

“I’ve a lot of precum, and that’s kind of sticky and slippery, so…” Liam trailed off as he felt Brett’s muscles clench against him. “Yeah, it’s a stupid idea-”

“No, no, it’s hot!” Brett assured him and smiled, pleasure sparkling across his face. “And stay where you are, I want to watch you do it!”

“Really?”

“Yeah, for sure, and besides, once I’m excited enough buried in your fine ass, you know I’m going to be leaking inside you!”

“Fuck, that’s hot!” Liam moaned and milked his cock for a handful of precum. He kept his eyes locked with Brett as he leaned forward and let his hand press the slickness into his ass crack and then awkwardly fingered himself, smearing the precum around his entrance and just a little way into his hole. “Ahh…done.”

“Sexy as anything!” Brett grinned and grasped his dick with one hand, keeping his grip around the base so it stood straight up. “Come over and sit on my fat pole, Liam!”

He felt his heart skip a beat at Brett’s instructions and Liam shuffled forward, adjusting his posture so he was squatting over Brett’s cock. Liam jerked himself off a little as he used his free hand to guide his ass onto the waiting dick. “Ah!” He gasped when he felt the tip press against his skin, he unclenched his hole and let himself go lower, sinking onto Brett’s cock and moaning loudly when he took a good third of his dick into his ass. “Ahhh, fuck!”

“Oh, yeah!” Brett moaned with him, moving his hands to rest on Liam’s hips. “What tight little hole you have, Liam!”

“Ugh! Ugh!” Liam grunted, feeling the resistance of his barely lubed asshole as Brett pushed up into him. He closed his eyes and focused on exploring the sensation, leaning into the burning pain until it lessened to a comforting glow and pleasure started to pool in his crotch. “Aww, yeah, that’s good.”

“You ready to start moving?”

“Yeah, go for it.” Liam nodded, his eyes still closed as Brett pulled him lower onto his cock and then began to push in and out in a slow, undulating rhythm. He opened his eyes when Brett moaned loudly, almost brokenly, and Liam glanced over his shoulder to see that Brett was using the heel of his foot to keep the dildo wedged into his ass as he fucked Liam. “That’s so hot!” Liam breathed, jerking himself off in time to the thrusts. 

“Yeah it is! You feel me leaking inside you?” Brett smirked lazily and released Liam’s waist. Instead he put his hands behind his head and casually started flexing and twisting so his arms, his pecs, his abs were made prominent and irresistible. “That’s it, Liam! Ride my cock and worship my muscles!”

“Gah, you’d be insufferable if I wasn’t so turned on right now!” Liam glared at him even as his fingers ceaselessly explored Brett’s body, his eagerness to touch and feel and _have_ all of Brett to himself was all consuming. He barely noticed that he was bouncing wildly up and down on Brett’s dick, instead focusing on playing with Brett’s erect nipples and hard pectoral muscles. Liam leaned forward impulsively and ground his cock against Brett’s abs as his mouth found purchase on Brett’s left bicep. His tongue swiped all over his smooth skin, Liam’s desires unleashed and unrestrained.

“Aw, that’s it, Liam!” Brett moaned against him, his arms wrapping around Liam’s body and holding him tight as his cock slammed in and out of Liam’s ass. “Oh fuck! I can’t believe I’m going to cum already!”

“Aw, aw, yeah, breed me, Brett!” Liam whispered into his ear as he clenched hard around Brett’s bucking cock. He moaned in tandem with him when Brett howled and jammed his dick deep into Liam’s hole, the rest of his body going still and taut. Liam could feel his ass suddenly fill up with Brett’s cum as his cock spasmed and quaked inside him. His own cock was jerking madly all over Brett’s abs as Liam felt himself nearing the precipice as well. “Ahh!”

“Oh! Yeah! Oh! Fuck!” Brett gasped and leaned back as Liam bit his lip. “You’re close too, huh?”

“You just dumped a thick load in my ass, how could I not be?” Liam whimpered, as he pushed himself up off Brett’s body, his hands pressing firmly on Brett’s pecs. “I want to finish now!”

“Alright.”

“But give me the dildo, I want to fuck myself with it!” Liam panted as Brett grinned impishly at him. “C’mon, share your toy!”

“Ok, ok, greedy!” Brett laughed and reached down awkwardly to pull the dildo out of his ass. He handed it to Liam and then moaned long and hard when Liam slowly stood up, pulling himself off Brett’s still hard cock. “Fuck, that’s so hot! Your ass is gonna be sloppy now, Liam!”

“Yeah, so is yours!” Liam smirked as an erotic thought flashed through his brain. “My first shot is going straight into your hole and then I’m cumming all over your chest and face like I promised!” He didn’t wait for Brett to respond and instead got between the guy’s legs, pushing them back and up onto his shoulders. Liam pointed his slick cock at Brett’s gaping hole and started jerking off one-handed, his other hand directing the golden dildo into his full ass. “Ahhhh!”

“It feels so good, doesn’t it?!” Brett grinned at him and slowly played with his cock as Liam moaned louder. “Mmh, I love it when you get vocal, I’m gonna make you scream my name before the night is over!”

“Mmh, shut up.” Liam moaned and settled down on the bed so that the dildo was pushed all the way inside him, Brett’s cum making the long thickness easy to take. He pressed his cock against Brett’s wide open asshole and started rubbing back and forth against the erotic heat, circling his leaking tip around Brett’s smooth cheeks before dipping the head of his cock inside Brett’s ass. Liam could hear him groan eagerly and felt the flutter of Brett’s asshole clenching around his tip, he began to buck uncontrollably against Brett’s entrance when his orgasm took him by surprise. “Ugh! Ah! Fuck, Brett, I’m cumming!”

“Aw, yeah, Liam, give me your cream!” Brett encouraged him loudly, one hand reaching behind his neck to exaggerate his flexing muscles while his other hand was busy flicking and playing with an erect nipple. “You gotta make good on your promise!”

“Uh! Uh! Uh!” Liam gasped as the pleasure blinded him, his ass clenching tightly around the golden dildo as his first few salvos creamed the inside of Brett’s hole. Fighting against his instincts, Liam pulled his cock out and lurched forward so his remaining cum shots splattered against Brett’s upper torso and neck, an errant volley hitting Brett’s nose and mouth. Liam groaned and let himself slump onto Brett’s abs as his final round of cum pooled around Brett’s still erect cock. “That was so hot!”

“Yeah it was!” Brett agreed enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to drop another load in your ass!”

“Your own hole is pretty slick too.” Liam mumbled, feeling his cock inflate again as his arousal settled into a more stable gear. “You want the dildo back?”

“Yes please!” He tugged it out of Liam’s ass as the werewolf moaned needily. “You’ll get it again! But, dude, look at how cummy it is! It’s going to be a real slick entry this time.”

“Let me watch again!” Liam replied, sliding off Brett’s torso so he could crawl between his legs and watch as Brett gathered more cum from his chest and abs to smear on the golden fuck stick. The shiny head was coated in their mingled cream and Liam’s cock trembled at the erotic sight. He took the dildo from Brett and pushed it back inside Brett’s asshole, feeling no resistance as the toy entered. “Man, I’m just as horny as before!”

“Then climb on up, cowboy, I’m ready to be ridden again!” 

The door of the cabin slowly opened and after a moment of silence, Thestor entered the room. His disguise as Thom Akis was easy to cast aside, merely one of a dozen different characters he had played since committing to the Cabal’s cause. He walked carefully across the room, his footsteps silent as the shadows draped themselves over and around him, obscuring his presence to all but the most eagle-eyed observers. 

Liam and Brett were asleep on one of the beds, wrapped in each other’s arms, their naked bodies pressed against each other, the scent of sex and sweat still heavy in the air. On the small table next to the bed was the golden dildo, gleaming despite the absence of light. Thestor frowned and picked it up carefully, raising it to eyelevel so he could examine the hole it the center of the dildo’s shaft. He tipped it slightly, hearing a minute slosh, and then he grinned widely. _Success! The master’s plan worked! Essences combined and encased in gold: the next Creator Key is within our grasp!_

Thestor reached into his pocket and withdrew an identical golden dildo and put it on the table, before storing the filled one in a silver box and slipping it back into his pocket. The duplicate placed, Thestor moved silently away from the sleeping werewolves and out into the night air, his task complete.


	5. A New Home

Liam glanced up from his morning coffee when he heard the familiar pitter-patter on the wooden floorboards, seeing Barker push the kitchen door open with his head. The staghound dropped the bundled newspaper from his mouth once he reached Liam and then sat down, watching him expectantly. “That’s a good dog!” Liam said and reached out to pet his head. “You got the mail, huh?! Ok, have some bacon!” He picked up a piece of stringy bacon from his plate and tossed it away from the table, smiling as Barker leapt up to catch it in his mouth with the snap of his jaws. “Good boy!”

He picked up the paper and unrolled it, his eyes darting across the headline of the _Edgarsmill Chronicle_. “Hmm, the United States Centennial is to be celebrated tonight with…heh, fireworks and a gala presented by Akis Mining Incorporated.” Liam put down the paper and shook his head slowly. “Ten years already, how has it been that long?” It still seemed like only the day before that he and Brett were buying a dubious firework from some random hick on the side of the road. 

Liam shook his head again and stood up, before making his way outside of the house and to the railings that screened off part of the veranda. Barker followed him curiously, sitting next to Liam when he leaned on the balustrade, looking out over the rolling hills of the farmstead. The summer heat was causing a haze across the fields of corn and wheat, ripening in the abundant sunshine. Far beyond the edge of their territory, Liam watched a vast herd of cattle head towards the river and their watering hole.

Turning more to the east, he could see the shimmering outlines of metal frames and wooden buildings, Edgarsmill expanding again after a new gold deposit was found in the Bodie Hills mines. A long dusty road led out from the settlement past the Akis Mining compound. Its rows of cabin bunkhouses, warehouses, the smelting plant, the commissary, and bathhouses occupied most of the northern part of the town. The road ran on, past the rundown and shuttered outposts of former mining outfits now eclipsed by the domination of Akis Mining, and then it meandered onwards through the outskirts of town until Edgarsmill was left behind and only a half dozen homes and farmsteads jutted against the road. 

“Ten years…” Liam sighed again, the unexpected weight of time pressing against him. He had known that the anniversary was approaching, of course, he just tried to ignore it and pretend as though this had always been their life. After they struck gold, the bonus and pay-out from Akis Mining had been larger than either of them expected, Thom being very generous and eager to have them stay on once the mining outfit expanded to extract the rich seam. Only a few weeks after the discovery, tragedy struck as Thom was killed by a runaway train on his way back to the main office in Boston. 

It had been mixed fortunes however, as they were asked to join the management of the mines by the new regional boss, Sam. As the years went by, Liam had gravitated more towards farming while Brett stayed on at the company. They had bought this farmstead and its holdings a little over five years previously, their crops providing an annual boost to income that enabled them to live comfortably.

But even as Liam settled into their new life, he knew that Brett was always searching for a way back to their own time. None of the travelling merchants who carried small stashes of fireworks had a similar rocket to the one they had bought in Beacon Hills, despite Brett often buying the trader’s entire stock and testing them in the fields behind the house. He had been less insistent on finding their way home in the last eighteen months or so, although Liam sometimes caught him with a faraway look in his eyes.

Barker nudged Liam’s leg with his nose, a whine starting in his throat. Liam pulled his eyes away from the past and instead patted the dog gently. “It’s alright, pup, we better get down to the lower field and check in with Boone and Alonzo.” He smiled as Barker raced off, sprinting into the sunlight towards the field that sloped away from the house and its outbuildings. There was a narrow gully at the edge of the field which marked the boundary between their holdings and the Bakers up the road, a field better suited for grass growing and hay drying than any sort of tillage.

Liam returned to the house to change into his farming clothes, going upstairs and into their bedroom. It was neat and tidy, air flowing in from the northern facing windows, kicking up the long, white cotton curtains into trailing sheets. Liam quickly unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the bed, pausing momentarily when his eyes caught the gleam of gold on the locker next to Brett’s side of the bed. “What are you doing out here?” He picked up the golden dildo and opened Brett’s locker to pull out a wooden box. The lid opened smoothly and silently, revealing an esoteric collection of sex toys that could at best be described as “experimental”. 

Their adventures in molding rubber and plaster of Paris had mixed results, but nothing werewolf strength couldn’t save them from. At great expense, Brett had procured cellulose resin through Akis Mining for supposed use in new mining practices that had somehow ended up being used to form an ass mold from a strapping young field hand they employed the summer before. Liam had been worried about someone discovering their secret and running them out of town for being sex fiends, but the farmhand had kept quiet and provided him and Brett with countless evenings of pleasure and satisfaction.

Liam dropped the golden dildo into the box and then returned it to the locker. He felt his cock stir at the memories of the summer fling; normally they used the toys in winter when it was hard to find a third partner for their fun. They tried to avoid approaching anyone from Edgarsmill and instead focused on the travelling laborers and occasional military company passing through. During spring and summer especially, they often had their pick of fine, strong young men who would come to work the fields and help Liam with the farm. 

Finding a willing partner was never the issue, rather it was finding one that they both liked and was open to having an immediate-and ongoing-threesome. Occasionally, they would want something different and pay a visit to the brothels in Edgarsmill, the working girls sating that particular desire. And when none of that worked out or they wanted to be intimate with just each other, the golden dildo and the assorted other toys allowed them to recreate their first night all over again.

He smirked and gave his cock a few rapid jerks before pulling on his tight-fitting trunks and then a pair of assless chaps, these ones decorated with dancing horses tailored into the leather of the legs. Liam’s perky ass and bulging cock was framed perfectly by the openings and he finished the look by pulling on his boots and leaving his upper body bare save for his hat. While they did get dressed up to go into town, he was much more comfortable being half naked at home-Brett often content to avoid clothes entirely and walk around in the buff. No one had yet complained-Liam least of all!

The day passed in languid tranquility, Brett helping Boone and Alonzo to walk the fields, stopping at lunch time for a bite to eat and admiring their handsome bodies as the pair stripped off under the azure skies and hot sun. The duo had promised to come back in the evening for a Fourth of July foursome. Liam was looking forward to it as much as Brett was-the other werewolf having suggested the activity to the laborers the week before. And despite feeling a little guilty for sampling the wares early, Liam was half-hard and excitedly thinking about all the positions they could try. His mouth was watering when he imagined Brett taking both Alonzo and Boone’s thick, uncut dicks in his ass as Liam rode him, reverse cow(boy).

He had just finished pulling a roast chicken out of the oven under the stove when Barker scrambled upright and darted out the door, barking excitedly, his usual response to Brett returning home. Liam paused and concentrated for a second, hearing the hoof beats of Brett’s horse coming up the long driveway. “Ah, good timing.” He placed the chicken onto the serving plate and hefted it to the table next to the potatoes and greens before washing his hands and undoing the apron around his waist.

He emerged into an airless evening, the trees around the farmstead utterly still and perfect, even as the buzzing of insects reached fever pitch. Brett’s horse, Dollop, was standing in the yard, waiting for her saddle to be removed as Barker walked around her and sniffed her muzzle playfully. Liam looked around for Brett and saw him coming towards him, his hands holding something behind his back. “What do you have there?”

“You’ll see it a minute.” Brett replied, his tone serious. “Did you read the paper this morning?”

“Yeah,” Liam nodded uneasily as the headline flashed back in his mind. “Edgarsmill’s first official fireworks show, how could I have missed that?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Brett released his breath in a long hiss and then revealed what was behind his back. “I met the vendor, saw that he had this for sale.”

Liam stared at the rocket sitting in the dirt in front of him, identical to the one that sent them here down to the aggressive red paint scheme and sneering grin across the nosecone. Yellow lettering and stencilling along the side offered an uncanny likeness to the federal warning stickers that were on modern fireworks. He swallowed hard and then looked up at Brett. “Was it him? The same guy?”

“No.” Brett shook his head quickly. “He charged an arm and a leg for it, way more than anything else in the stall; nearly a hundred dollars. I think that was on purpose; there were larger rockets there, but this one…I think it’s the one, Liam. I think this is how we get home.”

“Home.” Liam echoed dully and glanced past Brett to where his dog and horse were playing with each other. “Aren’t we home already?”

“You know what I mean; back to Beacon Hills, back to where we belong.” Brett closed the distance between them and took Liam’s hands in his own. “This has to be it: the fourth is today, we lit that rocket at night before the big firework celebration in Beacon Hills, it all fits together!”

“Ok, ok, hold on a minute.” Liam pulled his hands away and gave Brett a stern look. “This vendor, you said it wasn’t the same guy, but he still has to know something about why it’s a…time travelling rocket. We need to find him, question him, find out what the hell this was all about.”

“Or we could just light it and see.”

“You don’t want answers?” Liam frowned at Brett’s shake of his head. “Seriously? You’re the guy who spent the past ten years looking for a way out and you don’t even want to know why?!”

“That’s my point; all I care about is getting back.” Brett sighed, some of the excitement draining from his voice. “Look, I know we’ve built a life here and we’ve made friends and we have Barker and Dollop to look after, but we don’t belong here, Liam. And we’ve done all this because it didn’t look like we were going to get home.”

“It’s been a decade, Brett, do you think time has moved on for everyone else?”

“Scott and Stiles.” Brett replied as Liam nodded slowly. “How long were they gone for?”

“Heh, you expect me to remember?” Liam barked a laugh. “I don’t know exactly, but I don’t think there was a big hullabaloo over it; maybe they were gone for an hour, maybe a day. I seem to recall Scott said something about them only being there for a few days.”

“Hmm.” Brett hummed under his breath. “We’ve obviously been gone a lot longer. And if things work the same as with Scott and Stiles, then we could have been missing for months.”

“Years, probably.” Liam sat down on the veranda steps gloomily. “You know that Alonzo and Boone were meant to come over this evening to celebrate the centenary with us?”

“I know, I was looking forward to it.” Brett sat next to him as they both stared at the rocket. “We have a good life here, but we should consider what our disappearance would have done to your parents, to Mason, to my sister. We have the rocket: we have to try at least.”

“And give everything up? Give you up?” Liam looked at Brett as he spoke, but the other werewolf just put his arm around Liam and pulled him closer.

“That’s never going to happen, I still love you.” Brett whispered to him. “I’ll always love you: it doesn’t matter if ten years goes by or a hundred, we’ll be together…with an optional third wheel on occasion!”

“Heh!” Liam rolled his eyes and smirked, a warm plume of comfort rising through his stomach. He nodded at the animals nearby. “What about them? Do you think we can take them with us? We’ve had Barker since he was a puppy and I know how much you value Dollop.”

“Hmm, that’d be a pretty big interference in the timeline.”

“I think we’ve already changed a lot, Brett, two animals aren’t going to shatter the world.”

“Ok, fine.” Brett relented and tapped his fingers on the wooden step next to him. “If this doesn’t work though and the rocket just blows up like all those other times, we’re going to have one scared dog and horse right beside us!”

“It’s dangerous, I know.” Liam shrugged and stood up with a stretch. “Hey, do you still have our original clothes from that Fourth of July?”

“Uh, they’re upstairs.” Brett stood up with him and smirked. “You don’t want to go back to Beacon Hills in assless chaps and a bare chest?!”

“Strangely no,” Liam smiled and shook his head. “If it was Halloween and we were at a fancy dress party, then sure, why not?”

“Just a thought, Liam, where are we going to put Dollop when…if we get back?”

“Hmm.” Liam frowned for a moment as he tried to remember what his future had in terms of stables and came up short. “Oh wait! Theo and Corey! They have an animal rescue place out in the countryside, maybe they have a field where Dollop can run around, and you can go visit her?”

“That’s actually a pretty good idea.” Brett admitted and gestured back at the house. “I’ll get our clothes and you prep the animals, ok?”

“Got it.”

A little under twenty minutes later and they were dressed in the same clothes they had worn ten years before; Liam with his denim trousers and button down shirt, the cotton having lost much of its color through repeated washing and sun drying, Brett clad only in his pants, remaining shirtless to “stay true to their origin”. Liam wasn’t convinced however, although Brett looked just as good now as he had then, better perhaps with a little added muscle and a deeper tan. They stood around the firework, Liam holding a perplexed Barker in his arms as Brett kept a hand on Dollop’s mane, ready to grip tight if their plan worked.

“I’m ready.” Liam whispered to him as Brett prepared to strike the match and light the fuse. “Hey, I want this to work, you know.”

“Yeah?” He paused with the taper held next to the fuse.

“But if it doesn’t, we’ll keep trying to find a way home if that’s what you truly want.” Liam nodded for him to continue. “I’m ready, let’s do it.”

“Firing now.” Brett put the taper against the fuse and stepped back to hold onto Dollop as the fuse burned brightly down to the end. The rocket exploded upwards, shooting high into the evening air on a tail of orange and red fire before exploding in a dazzling flower of lights and smoke. 

Liam looked upwards to follow its trajectory, his eyes burning as the late evening sky dimmed for a brief moment before turning completely dark. Stars rushed in to fill the void and he felt his entire body lurch upwards without his feet leaving the ground. The gravelly surface of their yard was abruptly replaced by the short-cut grass of an empty field. Barker struggled in his arms, yelping before Liam lowered him to the ground and the dog jumped out of his grasp. Liam looked over to see Dollop sniffing Barker curiously as he approached, Brett standing at her side. He breathed deeply and then shook his head as the air tasted more polluted than he was used to. “We’re…”

“Back.” Brett finished, surprise on his face. “I can’t believe that worked.”

“I mean, let’s check on things before we say that for sure.” Liam murmured, looking around him as the sound of a firework exploding in the distance lit up the sky. 

“Huh.” Brett moved away from him and squatted down to pick something up. “Look, it’s your phone.”

“Thanks.” Liam stared at the date as he took the device from Brett and then shook his head. “No, this is impossible.”

“What?”

“We lit the first firework at ten thirty-five that fourth of July, two thousand and twenty.”

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do! It was the last time I looked at a phone in ten years!”

“Ok, so?”

“It’s ten thirty-six, fourth of July,” Liam’s voice shook. “Two thousand and twenty.”

“Maybe it’s broken, maybe-” Brett tried to reason as his own phone went off in the car behind them. “Oh, I forgot about these.”

“Do you remember how to drive?”

“Err, we’ll figure it out.” He replied uncertainly before reaching in through the window to take his phone from the holster on the dash. “Um, hi? Lorilee?! Oh my god! It’s great to hear your voice!”

Liam walked over towards Barker and Dollop as Brett continued talking excitedly behind him. “Hey, pupper.”

“Uh, yeah, I know, I know it was only…a few hours ago.” Brett wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and nodded towards Liam. “You want us to come pick you up? Where? Sinema? Uh, I suppose we can…alright, I’ll see you in twenty minutes.”

“What’s up?” Liam looked at him, still holding his phone awkwardly. “Is everything ok?”

“It’s like we never left, like those last ten years never happened.”

“But they did.”

“I know, I remember.” Brett smiled reassuringly at him. “Hey, now we get to experience our twenties all over again!”

“Damn.” Liam sighed, dejected. “I just can’t believe it, our house, our friends, our savings…all gone.”

“We still have Dollop and Barker.” Brett pointed out, taking his hand. “Um, for practicality, I can take Barker in the car, but would you mind riding Dollop back to my place? You can put him in the back yard until we get a hold of Theo or Corey tomorrow.”

“At least you live away from the center of town.” Liam muttered as he cast a critical eye over Dollop. “I’m beginning to wish we brought the saddle. Oh shit, I just realized, what about Alonzo and Boone? They were meant to come over! Aww, we were gonna hook up and have a crazy hot foursome!”

“Well, there is one really great silver lining, Liam.” Brett arched his brows suggestively at him. 

“What’s that?”

“I’ve about a dozen dildos and toys back home that are gonna be a whole lotta fun to play with tonight!”

The sun was rising slowly over the calm ocean waves in a red disc of fire that banished the night mists and burned off the fog that clung to the red roofs of the city. The acropolis stood above the weather, winds coming in from the distant mountains to keep the temples and courtyards cool and clear. The Fallen One stood in front of the Seal of Realms, watching its rings turn slowly clockwise and counter-clockwise. Surrounding the barrier was the ghostly echo of the Creator Shrine, not present in this world as more than a shadow, visible only to those who had once stood as guardians over the supernatural realms. 

A sound made him turn away, the Cabal of Ages gathering around him as they shuddered into existence, ripped from their contemporary timelines as he reshaped the dominant universe that they all existed in at this moment. The Fallen One glanced at Vertumnus as he held his head in his hands, the man’s appearance rapidly shifting from being clad in a winter’s shawl of pure white fur to a summery costume of vibrant interwoven flowers that covered his limbs and torso. “Apologies for bringing you all back here again.”

“Another change?” 

“Yes, Jikan, but you already know that. A certain dog out of place wreaked havoc in one of the future timelines. I had to make adjustments that left some of our erstwhile allies trapped in the future. Jikan, do go ahead and clean up the timelines, my methods are as a hammer to your scalpel.” He gestured at the woman who had spoken, watching as her human appearance was lost in a bloom of multi-colored light, an ethereal fox sliding around her like armor. “Do you remember our conversation in the ruins of the future now?”

“Yes…vaguely,” Jikan winced and then nodded. “That present is no longer stable, I think you adverted their disaster.”

“Perhaps.” The Fallen One shrugged. “We have experienced this day twice already, I only hope we do not have to repeat it again to gather all of the Creator Keys.”

“How can you tell we’ve been here before?” Vertumnus wondered as he knelt down and placed a hand to the ground. A few seconds later, a vine pushed up through the stone and bloomed into a bunch of grapes next to him, which he promptly began eating. “I don’t remember today having happened already?”

“You’re saving yourself a headache then.” Jikan snapped. “How many Creator Keys do we have right now?”

“Two, well, we’re about to have two.” The Fallen One answered as the air became physically chilly, snow falling in a small circle above them even as the sun broke free of the horizon and bathed the ancient city in morning heat. There was an abrupt sucking noise and Thestor emerged from the star-clad portal that opened and closed in the blink of an eye. He approached the Cabal and knelt down, respectfully offering them a silver box. “Is that it?”

“Yes, master, the mission was a success.” He waited until the Fallen One took the box from him before standing up and backing away. “What do I do now?”

“Your exit has been taken care of already,” The Fallen One murmured as he opened the box to reveal the gleaming gold of the dildo, its contents still fresh and pure. “For now, go and join Axel in the acolytes’ quarters. Oh, and if you should happen upon Orthros and the Chimera, send them my way.”

“Are you sure we’re ready?” Jikan asked as a nervous shudder rippled through the group. “Or have we already completed this part of our plan before and you know what they will do?”

“Three times before, they were not expecting it then, they won’t be expecting it now.” The Fallen One paused as the others frowned at him. “Twice we have killed the other Guardians of the Seal on this day, the third or first time was-”

“The betrayal.” Vertumnus completed for him with a swift nod. “That did not work out so well for you, Fallen One.”

“It will be easy and once I steal their power, the Shrine of the Creator can be breached, and the Seal of Realms made vulnerable.” The Fallen One allowed himself a rare smile and then nodded. “But first, we should make sure you are ready to secure the third Creator Key, Vertumnus. The ever-shifting nature of judgement is an ethereal concept to be sure, but I already know of those who have taken such judgements upon themselves.”

“You speak of the chimeras-the other ones, not the Guardian.” Jikan nodded along with him. “How will you get them to make a proclamation on sacred parchment when what they do is hidden from all and cloaked in shadows?”

“It shall begin with a pumpkin and end in righteous flames.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next part of this series will be released around the end of October, in time for Halloween, and will feature Theo and Corey. Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Much like the previous instalment, I’ll be updating once a week for the duration of the five chapters. This story takes place over a longer period of time than the last one, so expect some time jumps. Thanks for reading!


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